Darker Than Black: Reacquaint
by Ronnin-themanwithnoprinciples
Summary: 6 months since the Incident at the Gate and Misaki Kirihara hasn't had a clue as to what happened to Li Shengshun, BK-201, the Black Reaper, since it happened. That is, until today. When she receives a mysterious phone call telling her to go to The Gate if she wants to see BK-201 again, what kind of story will unfold for our hero's? And just what does this mystery man have in mind?
1. A Mysterious Call

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Darker than Black franchise, I only claim my OC's introduced in this story.**

Darker Than Black: Reacquaint

_Chapter 1: A Mysterious Call_

"Based on the MO, this man was likely killed by a Contractor who manipulates gravity." Goro Kobayashi told Misaki Kirihara as they looked down on the corpse of an executive businessman.

"Victim is Arata Inoue, age 45. We had gotten Intel recently that he may have had connection to recent exploits against his own company to fund a terrorist group." Misaki read the credentials. "Time of death pinpointed at 4:32 P.M. this afternoon, when a man in dark clothing raced from the scene, no one was able to get an ID on him, let alone stop him."

"This man is most likely our Contractor, so we'll start from there, by trying to find witnesses who saw him leave the company."

"One thing I find strange is that the computer on Arata's desk is turned on its side." Misaki pointed out.

"Could have been knocked down when the Contractor used his ability." Goro suggested.

"I don't think so. If that were the case I would expect the body to be much closer to the desk." Misaki pointed out. "Also, it doesn't appear that is was tossed on its side, but rather placed like that. I would guess it has something to do with the Contractor's Obeisance."

"Good eye, that might help us get an ID on him if he's already in our database." Goro said, then Misaki's phone rang.

"Excuse me a moment." Misaki said and stepped to the side as she took out her cell phone and answered it. "Hello?"

An unfamiliar voice spoke to Misaki. "Go to the Gate at 6:00 P.M. if you want to see BK-201 again." The voice told Misaki, then hung up immediately.

"H-hey, wait!" She said loudly, hoping he would give her more information.

"Something wrong Misaki?" Goro asked, surprised by her reaction to her caller.

"N-no, but I need to go somewhere. Please continue the investigation without me." Misaki told Goro as she hurried out of the building.

Misaki looked at her watch; it was already 5:26 P.M., not giving her a lot of time to get to the Gate before BK-201 was there, or so she took from the call. She took her car and drove strait to the Gate without stopping for anything. As she arrived she took a look at her watch.

"5:58." She said to herself, just a couple minutes early.

Misaki waited impatiently, really hoping this call wasn't some sort of prank. Just as 6:00 O' clock came, Misaki's phone suddenly rang, and she didn't hesitate to pick it up. "Hello?" She said, not taking her eyes off of the Gate.

"Good thing you did what I told you to do, then again I had already seen you would." The voice from before said with approval.

"Are you watching me?" Misaki asked, looking around calmly.

"Don't be silly, I just know you're there that's all." The voice answered.

"You told me I'd be able to see BK-201 if I came here." Misaki pointed out.

"That I did, and you will see him, I just never said you'd actually see him _at_ the Gate."

"Stop playing games." Misaki warned him.

"Game?" The voice repeated in question. "This isn't a game, it's a novel. You are just one of the characters I have decided to cast the name of."

"What are you talking about?"

"Congratulations, Miss Misaki Kirihara. You have been chosen to play the role of my main Heroine." The voice said, half sounding like he was joking. "And do rest assured that our big-shot Hero is indeed BK-201."

"Stop talking in riddles. Tell me who are you?"

"I am the author. Who else?"

"What did I just say.

"I'm being serious here. You and BK-201 are my main characters; and of course I had to add the little doll girl."

"Doll? Are you talking about Izanami?"  
"Yes and no, after all Izanami and BK-201's Doll are technically two different people. But she does serve as an important character."

"Why did you have me come here if BK-201 wasn't going to show up?" Misaki asked.

"Now, now, Miss Kirihara. A plot has to start somewhere right? And what better place for this story to begin then with the slightly desperate police woman looking for answers to questions she's had for years staring at the place she last saw the man who is both her enemy and ally." The voice laid it out for Misaki to envision.

"Slightly desperate, are you talking about me?" Misaki asked, displeased with the character description this mystery man had given her.

The man on the other end laughed at her response. "Who else would I be referring to? Certainly not your Co-main Heroine who has yet to be casted."

"Another Heroine, who?" Misaki asked.

"Now, now, If I gave you my whole list of characters before we even reach chapter two, what fun would that be?" The voice responded. "I'm sure it will become obvious to you soon though."

"If this is chapter one, when did you cast BK-201?"

"In the Prologue of course." The voice said as if it were obvious. "You won't know what happened then for a while though, you need to turn the pages forward before you can learn what happened before."

Misaki was getting confused and agitated now, but decided for her benefit it might do her good to play along for now. "Well then, where does the next scene of your novel begin?" She asked with little enthusiasm.

"Now you're getting it!" The voice said with excitement now that Misaki had taken in the whole book-writing theme he was in. "Well then, without further ado I will give you the setting of the next scene and a bit of what to do when you get there.

"You will drive back to your police station where your Co-workers will exit and greet you. They will ask to speak to you about the case you were working earlier, and that is when you will receive my next call. Now on you go." The voice said and hung up.

Misaki sighed as she put her phone away, highly uncertain if this person should be considered trustworthy, or even sane for that matter. Nonetheless she got to her car and drove off for the police station.

When she arrived Kouno and Saito came out, just as the mystery man had predicted, and they greeted her. "Hey Chief," Kouno said.

"Chief," Saito also said as the two approached.

Kouno spoke. "Hey about that case/" Just then Misaki's phone rang, and she answered it strait away.

"Yes." Misaki answered, and Kouno looked a bit steamed about being blown off so quickly.

"First off, don't tell you subordinates about any of this yet, the time will come when it is time for them to learn, but that's not for a good while."

"Fine, so what happens now?" Misaki replied, quickly accepting what this man said as the best choice.

"You catch your Contractor." The man said, surprising Misaki.

"What do you mean catch the Contractor?" Misaki asked, getting suspicious, and startling Kouno and Saito.

"Exactly that. In just a few seconds a man in a suit with blonde hair should be passing behind you..." The man said, and Misaki subtly look to the side and saw a man that fit the description. "This man is the Contractor that killed Arata Inoue."

"How can you be sure? I can't just take your word for it." Misaki told him.

"Watch him a few more seconds and tell me. He's just about to make Obeisance." The man told her, and she watched the man as he set a can of soda down on a pole, then lifted the can of soda and set it on its side.

"That's..." Misaki started.

"Exactly; it's the same as with the computer on the desk at the crime scene." The man finished. "If you put a gun to his back and tell him not to manipulate gravity he will give you the rest of the evidence you need." Kouno and Saito saw what happened as well and picked up the same message.

Per her instructions, Misaki walked up to him and put a gun to his back. "Don't even try manipulating gravity, Contractor. You are under arrest for the murder of Arata Inoue."

The blonde man did just what the man on the phone predicted and gave them the rest of what they needed to convict him. "How did you find me so fast?" It was essentially a confession.

"A little outside help; now why don't you go inside the station with my subordinates." Misaki told him, and Kouno and Saito took over.

"OK, you have my attention, now what happens next?" Misaki asked, but then realized that the dial tone was sounding on her phone. "... He hung up." She told herself, and then went inside to help with the Contractor.


	2. Monthly Riddle

_Chapter 2: Monthly Riddle_

**Date: July 15th**

Misaki looked up through her telescope, focusing on a single star; it of course was BK-201's. After the strange phone call from the man she had no idea who was, she had wanted to know about BK-201's activities more than ever. Six months had past since the incidents involving Izanami had come to a close, and this phone call was actually the first notice of BK-201 she had gotten this whole time.

Misaki looked up at the sky and one particular star seemed to catch her eye as it shook, symbolizing a Contractor using their ability. It was its position that bothered her though, and she aimed her telescope at it to get a better look.

"That looks like... No it can't be... Her?" Misaki mumbled to herself. With the position of the star, she was thinking that it looked like UB-001's star... Amber's star.

Misaki reminded herself that she died from her Obeisance, which was aging herself down. After a moment the star stopped shaking, but Misaki couldn't take her eyes off it until her phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?" She asked, not expecting a call anytime soon.

"Enjoying your stargazing, my Heroine?" It was the mysterious man calling again.

"How do you know what I'm doing right now?" Misaki demanded an answer.

"I'm not stalking you if that's what you're thinking. But I'll give you a hint, that was my star shaking just now; Messier Code 'UB-002'." He said, startling Misaki.

"So you're a Contractor." Misaki said to confirm.

"Exactly, I just thought you would like to know why the star you were looking at was so very close to Amber's star's position." The man explained.

"Is that really all you called me for this time?" Misaki asked.

"Of course not, I'm also going to tell you that my next characters are fixing to make their debut, two of them." The man told her.

"Am I to assume you're not giving me their names?" Misaki asked.

"That's correct, but you do know one of them, he'll be contacted by the one you don't know. Here's your hint to figuring out who they are...

"'A man, next month, walks into a bar to receives a message left for him by another man, 4 months later than the month received. As for the boy you know, this month, he is found by who received the message, next month.' Keyword: Month, try to figure it out." The man hung up.

"Hey, wait/" She tried to stop him from hanging up but was to late of course. "What kind of riddle is that? Keyword: Month?" She said the keyword to herself out loud and had a stroke of brilliance, and figured out who these new characters were.

Somewhere else, at a bar just as the clock turned 10:00 P.M., a man in a red jacket and a top hat with blonde hair and gold eyes walked in. The bar owner looked at the man and then at the clock, the chuckled to himself.

"I didn't think it would happen, but I guess I was wrong." The bar owner said to the man as he walked in.

The man was the member of MI-6, August 7, a Contractor who used magic for his ability. "What didn't you think would happen?" August asked.

"I just got a call 5 minutes ago from a man to give a message to the man that walked in at ten O' Clock sharp. When I asked who wanted to give him the message, he simply said 'give it the address '4 months to follow, 8 months past', he'll know."

"'Four months to follow, 8 months past'? As it turns out I do know, although it's quite surprising to get a message from him, he must have found what he was looking for. So what's the message?" August asked.

The bar owner leaned in closer and whispered to August. "'I need you and I need him last month.'" He said and laughed. "Some crazy riddle huh?"

"To you maybe, but to me it as clear as a window; and if I know him like I think I know him, my phone will ring in the next ten seconds to give me our meeting place." August said and held his phone up, then began counting down. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" He said and his phone rang, and he picked it up. "So how's your story coming along, I can only assume that's why you would pick up the pen."

"True, glad to hear you haven't forgotten about me." The voice said, and it was the same voice that had called Misaki.

"If I had forgotten about you, you would have never called me or even sent the message." August pointed out.

"Again, true." The man admitted. "And the meeting place is in front of the Gate. Come as soon as you can." He said and hung up.

"Right, that means both of us and almost literally right now. I guess I don't have time for a drink, I bid you ado." August told the bar owner as his eyes glowed red and he was given a blue aura, and then dropped his top hat over him and he vanished with his ability.

August reappeared in a bedroom, and in the bed slept a boy with blonde hair and wearing a sort of lederhosen vest. "Hey, July, wake up." August shook the boy until he awoke.

"August 7?" July said drowsily, recognizing his face.

"Time to wake up and come with me; we have an interview to get to with that writer. You remember who I'm talking about, right?" August told July, and he used his ability again to teleport both of them up to the Gate.

"Great to see you both again," A man said as he walked up to them. He had silver hair and wore a black cloak and leather gloves. "How long has it been?" He asked.

"I believe you left us just before the Tokyo Explosion, so that would make it two and a half years, 'Happy Ending'." August replied to the man.

The man laughed at being called his old nickname. "Even knowing you would say that it's funny to hear you call me that, showing you have lost so much faith in me you don't call me by my old MI-6 codename but not lost so much faith in me that you would call me by my real name."

"'Misdirection is the key, if the crowd looks at your right hand, they won't notice that you never made the switch with the coin to that hand in the first place'." August said, revealing the secret to a magic trick per his Obeisance.

In response to this, "Happy Ending" pulled out a book and flipped to the last page. "'He took his sword and plunged it into the heart of the beast; and then it shriveled up and died where it stood. The princess Hina rushed up to congratulate the brave knight and her true love with a kiss. The knight took the princess and rode away with her on his horse toward the castle as the sun began to rise behind them, and they all lived happily ever after.'" He read the last paragraph of the book then put it back in his pocket. "A bit cliché perhaps, but I'll have to read it from the beginning later."

"Now that our annoying Obeisance's are out of the way, tell us what you need us to do." August said, knowing full well that "Happy Ending" hated his Obeisance just as much as he hated his, and for a similar reason as well.

"Of course, though for this chapter your part was mostly bringing July to me."

"What do you need me to do, December 31?" July asked, using "Happy Ending's" Codename from the MI-6.

"You know what this is right?" December asked as he held up a small, clear, round plate.

"A Meteor Core?" August said with a bit of surprise.

"Exactly, do you understand what I want you to do with this July?" December asked, although he already knew the answer as July nodded his head.

"A present for my friend." July said, and walked up to December to receive the Meteor Core. "So you need her as well?" July asked.

"That's right, I know you will give this to her for me." December said.

"Sounds like this will be one interesting story, I would imagine you already have BK-201 cast then." August noted.

"Right, now if you could just do one last thing and take July to you-know-where, that will be all I need to close this chapter." December told August.

"I don't like it, but I'll go with what you say because I'm looking forward to seeing how your book ends." August said, putting his hand on July's shoulder. "Just don't over calculate things, or you may have a rogue character finish your book before it's time." He said, and used his ability to take July and appeared in front of an old, abandoned house.

"Right, the next chapter will be quite interesting. I wonder if I'm in it." August said as he began walking away. "'To make the illusion of bending a spoon in front of the audience is simply having pre-bended the spoon to make it weak, and as such it just bends down by itself with no help'." August told the secret to another magic trick per his Obeisance.

July put the Meteor Core in his pocket and laid down on a bench in front of the house to wait for morning. "First thing in the morning." He told himself, wanting this maybe more than December did.


	3. Meteor of Memories

_Chapter 3: Meteor of Memories_

It was 8:00 A.M. when July woke up. He sat up and stayed still for a moment until he recalled the events from last night in which August took him to December, who gave him a Meteor Core that he knew just what to do with now. July stood up and walked over to the front door of the house he slept in front of and entered without knocking.

Inside the house was dusty and unmaintained, as how neat the house looked didn't matter much to the only person living here, who was at the table directly in front of July. The girl had red hair that she let flow down her back and green eyes. She wore a pink and white striped shirt, along with a blue jean skirt over black slack pants.

This girl was indeed Suou Pavlichenko, a girl who was actually a clone of her deceased brother, Shion. Six months ago, Izanami broke the Meteor Core that Suou wore around her neck as a necklace, which was the only thing that allowed her to retain any of what she experienced in the first place.

The necklace she wore was on the table as well, and July walked over to pick it up, and then fit the Meteor Core he was given into the hole on the necklace. After doing this, July faced Suou who was eating of shear instinct. If things went as December had planned, and July knew there was no doubt they would not, then when he put this Meteor Core around Suou's neck, she would return completely back to normal and remember everything she forgot when Izanami broke the last core.

"Suou," July said, and Suou turned her head to him. The fact she still responded at all to her name was proof she could be restored to what she was before; all that was left was to put it on.

July slipped the necklace around Suou's neck and stepped back, waiting. For a moment nothing appeared to happen, but then a gradual change in her expression showed that her memories were indeed beginning to return.

"Papa, Mama, Shion..." Suou said to herself as memories of these people came back to her. "...Nika, Tanya, Bella..." She said, regaining memories of her friends. "... Hei, Mao, July... July?" Suou questioned, turning to July as she remembered his name. Suddenly, Suou started to grab her head, recognizing the sense of pain of being restored.

"Suou, are you alright?" July asked as she screamed. Several more minutes past and Suou hadn't gotten any better. But then she suddenly stopped screaming, and after a moment of nothing but shock on her face, she just collapsed from the stress and pain she had just gone through from the restoration of her memories. "Suou, Suou?" July tried to wake her, but she just stayed unconscious.

Then July heard a phone ring from outside, and walked to the door to find out what it was. When he opened the door he saw August, who immediately put the phone in front of him.

"It's for you." He told him, and July took the phone.

"Do allow me to apologize for not being able to give you an advanced warning about her fainting. But do rest assured she's perfectly fine now, memories and all."

"Right, thank you. But what's the point of this December?" July had to ask.

"In order for everything to run together in my story, I will need to gather as many people that know BK-201 as possible. So naturally, I needed to restore Miss Pavlichenko, who had become so close to him." December explained. "Now if you wouldn't mind, I have another call to make." He said, hanging up, and July gave the phone back to August.

"I just came by to see how the whole recovery thing went, but I guess I had a bigger role to play at the time." August said, looking over at Suou.

"December said that Suou has completely been restored; all that's left is for her to wake up." July said.

"I see, well then I should probably leave so she doesn't see me when she wakes up. Last time she saw me I was supposable killed by BK-201." August said, and walked away.

Just then, Misaki's phone rang, and only just having got out of bed, she took a moment to pick it up. When she noticed who the caller was, she immediately woke up and answered. "Yes?" She asked.

"Sorry to wake you at such an early hour, Miss Kirihara." December said.

"Cut to the chase." Misaki demanded.

"Now, now, you'll get the information you want, but let's not forget who the author is here." December told Misaki.

Misaki was restless, but she went along with it. "I assume you already know this, but I did crack your riddle, December." She said, figuring out his codename from the riddle. "I must say I was surprised when I figured it out; I can't seem to understand how either one can participate, July or August 7. After all-"

"August 7's death was just what he led everyone to believe, he had important matters he needed to attend to in secret." December explained. "As for July, I can assure you he is also back; I do have my ways."

"I can't even begin to understand what that entails, but, what did you call me for?"

"The third heroine and one of the most crucial elements in getting BK-201 back to Japan has just been cast." December said.

"Third heroine; so there's Izanami – or rather Yin – and me, but the third would be..." Misaki began as she collected her thoughts and remembered who this third Heroine would have to be. "Suou?" She asked herself with conflicted surprise, of course knowing everything about what happened to her at the Gate.

"Indeed, she plays a very important role in getting BK-201 back to Japan."

Misaki only became more irritated hearing this. "That doesn't make any sense, she-"

"I have restored her to what she was before, meaning her powers have also returned. And with her powers..." December began and let Misaki finish the thought.

"Her star would return!" Misaki realized.

"Exactly, now the next thing I need for you to do is contact your friend in the CIA. And don't mention anything about this; just tell her you think you've gotten a lead on BK-201, that will be enough to cast her." December instructed Misaki and hung up.

"Suou…? She's the most crucial key to getting BK-201 back to Japan?" Misaki said and lied down to try and sleep off all the confusion.

Back at Suou's house, or rather the house she was staying at, Suou had just begun to wake up. "Suou, are you alright?" A voice asked Suou, and as her vision cleared she noticed it was July.

"July...?" She spoke his name, still dazed, but then remembering everything that happened with Izanami, she leaped up with surprise. "July!? Where am I? Where's Hei? What-"

"Suou!" July cut her off and tried to calm her down before beginning his explanation. "I don't have all the details yet, but there is someone working to get Hei to return to Japan."

"Return to Japan? Where is he now?" Suou asked.

July shook his head. "I don't know, although I'm sure _he_ does." He told Suou. "I met with him, and he gave a Meteor Core that restored your memories." July explained, pointing down at Suou's necklace that held a Meteor Core in it.

"Why does he need me?" Suou asked.

"He said you were important." July replied.

"But why?" Suou wanted to know.

"I don't know." July answered.

"When will Hei come?"

"I don't know."

"Who is this man anyways?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Even the slightest thing can offset his plans, if it was alright for me to tell you any of this information, he would have said to do so." July explained.

"...What will happen to us when this is over?" Suou asked and looked depressed, even though she knew she would be seeing Hei again, she was afraid of what kind of things were going to happen along the way. Seeing her depressed expression, July bent down and hugged Suou to give her some comfort, taking her off guard for a moment, but then she returned the hug. "Thank you, July."


	4. Finishing Auditions

_Chapter 4: Finishing Auditions_

After Misaki got off work, she got to her car and began following Decembers instructions, and called Madame Oreille, a CIA agent that once worked with BK-201, and also helped orchestrate Suou's journey to test if she would retain her memories with the help of the meteor core she wore as a necklace.

"Hello?" Oreille picked up.

"Yes, Madame Oreille, it's Misaki Kirihara." Misaki said.

"Misaki, this is a pleasant surprise. What's the occasion I have for your call?" Oreille asked.

"I think I have a lead on BK-201." Misaki told her, just as December told her to do.

"What was that?" Oreille nearly jumped from her seat at this news.

"It's true; I've gotten some Intel that suggests he may be returning to Tokyo soon." Misaki explained.

"Intriguing, is there any other information you have?" Oreille asked.

"Yes, I noticed last night that a certain star reappeared in the night sky." Misaki said.

"Reappeared, what do you mean?"

"It's Suou Pavlichenko's star."

"What... did you say? But that's not possible."

"Perhaps someone found a way. Or perhaps she somehow managed to restore herself of her own will."

"That last one is highly unlikely, nonetheless, the idea that BK-201 may be coming back to Japan is incredible news. I'll look into it and get back to you if I find anything." Oreille told Misaki

"Please do." Misaki replied and hung up. "I just hope I'm not placing too much trust in December's hands, if he has some dark ulterior motive, it could end badly." Misaki said to herself.

"The cast is just about complete now. All that's left is to get someone who can act behind the scenes to finish getting things started." December said to himself as he drove around the city in a taxi cab.

Since December was driving a taxi, he was giving multiple people drives all over Tokyo, but he was waiting for a certain person to call out... "Taxi" A voice called to December's cab, and he smiled as he heard it, and stopped his cab to let the person in.

The woman that climbed in had long black hair and she was wearing a suit one might wear to a business meeting. "Where to Miss?" December asked, still pretending to a simple cab driver.

"Drive north for 20 minutes, then let me off." The woman told December. December did as the woman instructed but after 20 minutes, he made a turn to the left and stopped the car right next to a wall, preventing the woman from exiting, and he also locked the doors. "What is the meaning of this?" The woman asked.

"Do relax, I merely wish to give you a business proposal of sorts; Miss Mina Hazuki." December said, calling Hazuki by her name, startling her.

"Who are you?" Hazuki demanded.

"You do not need to know who I am, just what I'm here for." December told her.

"Fine then, what kind of 'proposal' do you have for me?"

"I'm collecting characters to help me with a story I'm writing involving BK-201."

"BK-201, it seems you know a lot about me, meaning you probably also know I am quite capable of killing you right now." Hazuki warned.

"Capable yes, but I know you will not attack me, after hearing me mention BK-201, you are interested to hear what I have to say. Isn't that right?" December replied, and Hazuki seemed to settle down a bit. "You are the last major character I need to cast in order for things to really get started."

"So what is it you want me to do exactly?" Hazuki asked.

"What I need you to do first and foremost is to go and meet BK-201, who is in China." December said. "Without someone going to do this, he will not return to Japan. You are the only person that has connections with BK-201 that has the ability to operate off the grid, since you no longer work for any government agencies."

"What makes you think I'll cooperate with you?"

"Because your revenge is not complete yet, and I can help you get there if you wish." December said.

"What do you mean!?" Hazuki asked accusingly, as she was entirely certain she had killed Genma.

"You are aware that Mister Genma Shizume was a double agent for the CIA, yes?" December asked.

"Yes," Hazuki answered.

"Well did it not ever occur to you that that means whoever Genma was working under in the CIA gave him the order to kill Miss Yokou Sawasaki?" December suggested.

"What, you mean it wasn't Genma's independent decision?" Hazuki was surprised.

"No, he was ordered to do so by his superior. That is why your revenge is not complete, and that is why you will help me in my quest. Because through this story, if everything goes as planned, the person that ordered Mister Shizume to take Miss Sawasaki's life will appear to you, and you will be capable of exacting your full revenge if you so desire." December explained.

"How will I know the person is the one I'm looking for?" Hazuki asked.

"You will know. You do not even need to know what to look for, but when you find the right person, you will know it beyond a shadow of a doubt. If any more confirmation will be needed, all it will take is a single question: 'Do you remember Genma Shizume?'" December told her. "So what do you say, will you get BK-201 for me?"

"If I can get revenge for Yokou, you shouldn't even have to ask." Hazuki replied, and in response December unlocked the doors and pulled out into the road again.

"So then, where to Miss?" December asked again, going back into his cab driver act.

"To the airport, I have a plane to catch." Hazuki told December, and he started driving again.

After arriving at the airport, Hazuki paid December for the cab ride and December gave Hazuki some instructions on what to do after finding BK-201, and drove away, picking up his phone and dialing Misaki's number.

When Misaki's phone rang, she looked at the caller ID and picked up quickly. "Yes?"

"Hello once more, Miss Misaki Kirihara." December greeted her, yet doing so made Misaki slightly suspicious, as he had never before actually taken the time to properly greet her when calling.

"What is it December?" Misaki asked.

"I have called to inform you of two things." December replied. "The first is that now, I have all the main characters needed to move forward with my story, meaning BK-201 will soon return to Japan."

"And the second thing?" Misaki asked, perhaps more curious about it than she was excited about the first.

"This call will be the last of my regular communications with you." December told her. "I needed to keep you in the loop up until now so that you wouldn't do anything that could potentially put a dent in my plans. But now that I have all of my characters, and your trust for the most part, that is no longer necessary, and actually might harm my plans if I did keep you in constant communication from here on." He explained.

"I see, so in fact all this time, rather than keeping me informed because I was an important character in your story, you were actually keeping tabs on me to make sure I didn't stray off plot." Misaki gathered.

"Yes, I suppose that is true." December said, with slight regret in his tone.

"No matter, you promised me I would meet BK-201 again if I went along with your plan, and I don't think you lied, so I will go along with what you say." Misaki told December.

"That's good, well then for now just go back to your regular routine, the time will come when I call you again. Goodbye then, for now." December said and hung up, which again worried Misaki because he had also never taken the time to properly dismiss himself from the call, he just hung up.

December dropped off the taxi cab he borrowed and started walking, smiling as he went. "I really couldn't have asked for better characters then the ones I have." December told himself. "Well then BK-201; do get back here as quickly as possible, for everyone's sake, including yours." He said as he watched a plane leave the airport and depart for China, knowing for sure that Mina Hazuki was on board, and his smile grew even larger.

* * *

**AN: Reply to the review of 'Guest': Yes, I did edit my story a little bit before reposting the chapters, but mostly it was just changing how something was worded.**


	5. Prologue

_Chapter 5: Prologue_

"Mina Hazuki should be arriving in China right about now. I just hope nothing goes wrong." December said to himself as he looked out into the starry night sky. "Even for me, the future is quite an unpredictable thing."

_" If everything goes as planned, the person that ordered Mister Shizume to take Miss Sawasaki's life will appear to you, and you will be capable of exacting your full revenge if you so desire." _Hazuki thought about that mysterious man's promise as her plane landed in China while she was looking over her instructions given to her once finding BK-201.

"That man must have been an imbecile, he included everything I needed to once I find BK-201, except for the part where he told me how to find him!" Hazuki said aloud to herself frustrated that he forgot the most crucial part of information.

As the intercom on the plane came on and told everyone that the plane would be landing soon, Hazuki tried to calm down, hoping the man wasn't actually this dumb and had some sort of plan in not telling her how to find him. Although she assumed it could also be that he did not know where he would be exactly. After all, in hindsight, it would probably be impossible for him to have known where exactly BK-201 would be in all of China, but in that same respect it meant that it could take quite a long time to find him at all.

Hazuki decided not to worry about it and got off the plane when it landed. After looking around a while, she decided to see if anyone in the area had seen him, and walked up to a young man. "Excuse me, have you seen a man with black hair and eyes?"

"Japanese are you? Sorry lady but if you want my help you'll have to be a bit more specific." One man told Hazuki.

"He has a huge appetite." Hazuki included.

"That's slightly more specific, but sorry to say I haven't seen anyone like that around." The man said with a shrug.

"That's fine," Hazuki said and walked past him, but almost instantly stopped.

"Hey, lady, is something wrong?" The man asked.

"That's him," Hazuki said, looking strait at a man with black hair and eyes, accompanied by a girl with silver hair. She saw them go around a corner into an alleyway and then ran after them.

Her first instruction on what to do after finding BK-201 was to make sure they weren't hanging around the public, being in the back of an alleyway would take care of that. "BK-201!" She shouted as she entered the alleyway, and in hearing his Contractor Messier Code, Hei turned around and got defensive until he saw that it was Mina Hazuki, at which point he just became suspicious.

"What is someone like you doing here in China?" Hei asked.

"I'm here to get you back to Japan." Hazuki replied.

"Give me one good reason I should go back to Japan."

"The events of 6 months ago are not over." Hazuki said, following the next instruction she was given. "Izanami and Izanagi have yet to fulfill their prophecy."

"What are you talking about?" Hei asked, becoming defensive again at the mention of Izanami and Izanagi.

"If you need proof look up at the sky, I believe you'll find a certain star has appeared when it shouldn't have. Suou Pavlichenko's star has returned." Hazuki told Hei.

"What!?" Hei said with complete shock and disbelief and looked up at where Suou's star would be, and sure enough it had returned, shining in the spot it had before Izanami broke her Meteor Core.

"Suou was sent on her journey with you deliberately in accordance to test her ability to keep memories with the Meteor Core and to help with the events of Izanami. But you know as well as I what Izanami had done to her; the fact her star has returned means she has been restored and those events are not finished.

"So the Izanami events aren't over yet; why should I care?" Hei asked.

"You do have her tagging along with you everywhere you go, I would think it's in your own best interests to do so." Hazuki said pointing to Yin, who had been the vessel of Izanami 6 months ago.

"Hei," Yin spoke. "Listen to her." She said, surprising Hei a bit.

"I have your passports and tickets already right here." Hazuki said and tossed faked passports and a pair of plane tickets to Japan for Hei and Yin to them. "Your flight leaves in 2 hours.

Hei looked at Yin. "Are you sure?" He asked her, and she responded by nodding her head. "Fine then, let's go." Hei said, and walked past Hazuki.

"BK-201..." Hazuki stopped Hei just as he started to pass her. "... I told you last time, remember? 'Izanami is waiting for you'." She said, repeating herself from the Izanami events, just before she had fought Genma.

"What exactly, do you hope to achieve by doing all this?" Hei asked.

"Someone else is pulling the strings, that is all I am allowed to tell you. My instructions were all perfectly planned to get you back to Japan, then I am told not to tell you anymore details than what I have told you up to this point. Don't expect to hear much from me after we arrive in Japan." Hazuki said, and Hei and Yin walked toward the airport to wait for their flight back to Japan.

Misaki was looking up at BK-201's star again tonight through her telescope. Ever since the incidents at the gate 6 months ago, Misaki had been watching this star every night in hope to see it become active, but she hadn't ever seen the star shake, not even once. For a moment Misaki moved her telescope to look at December's star, thinking about how he had acted strange over the phone that day.

She doubted that the call being the last time he would call her had really warranted such a reaction. She was worried something was about to go wrong or had already gone wrong that caused their communications to halt. All she hoped was that it was nothing too major, nothing that would keep BK-201 from returning to Tokyo. All the while she just hoped and prayed she wasn't misplacing her trust in December, as a member of the MI-6, there was no telling what his true intentions or motives were.

Misaki's phone then started to ring, and in haste she picked it up thinking that perhaps it was December. "Hello?" She asked.

"Misaki, we've got him!" It was Madame Oreille. "BK-201 is returning to Japan!"

"Are you certain?" Misaki asked, almost unable to believe this all worked out as December planned.

"Yes, about one hour ago, two tickets were purchased for a flight from China to Japan. The tickets were purchased under aliases, but the pictures on the passports shown are of BK-201 and his Doll." Oreille told Misaki. "Where did you get the information on BK-201 anyways?"

Misaki thought for a moment, It wasn't a good idea to tell Oreille about December yet. "Let's just say I caught a lucky break." Misaki said.

"Well, what are you going to do about BK-201? Intercept him at the airport?"

"No, for right now I want to keep this on the down low, bringing the police into this could just make things complicated. For now I'll just play it by ear."

"I see, well try to keep me posted, alright."

"Will do," Misaki said and hung up, then continued to look up at the stars.

December walked into a bar and sat down. "What'll you have?" The bartender asked.

"Nothing tonight, I'm just meeting someone here." December said, and just a minute afterward, the door to the bar opened and August 7 walked in.

Seeing December, August smiled to himself and took a seat next to him. "Need me for something, 'Happy Ending'?" He asked.

"BK-201 is returning, his flight will land 12:30 tomorrow afternoon. I need you to tell July to take Suou and meet him there. Getting them all together again is a major step in my plans."

"Is there any specific instructions for them to follow once they find him?" August asked.

"Just tell him to do what comes naturally, that in itself will be enough." December replied, and stood up and walked out of the bar.

"Get it done first thing in the morning. This story really is turning out to be quite interesting." August said to himself with a grin.


	6. New Beginnings

_Chapter 6: New Beginnings_

Hei and Yin sat in the plane on their flight to Tokyo. In the seat behind them was Hazuki. They had not spoken to each other the whole flight so far, but a few questions had been bugging Hei for a while now.

"How did you know where to find me?" He asked Hazuki.

"I didn't really know, I just happened to see you going into an alleyway a few minutes after I landed." Hazuki replied.

"But you already had our tickets for this flight ready for us, so you must have known you would find us before the flight took off."

"I was just following the instructions. If you ever meet the guy pulling the strings you can ask him."

"Who is the person pulling the strings, and why?"

"I know the answer to neither of those questions. I never got his name, and what he told me sounded rhetorical; said that he was gathering characters for a novel."

"What do you gain from this?"

"Revenge," Hazuki replied. "I was told that by going through the steps, the person who ordered Genma to kill Youko would show his face."

"I see; are there any instructions on what to do once we land?"

"No, once we land, just do what you need to, I'm sure the mastermind will come to us." Hazuki said, once again making Hei wonder about this "mastermind" as he had no idea who he was.

"Come on, hurry!" Suou urged July as they ran through the crowds of people at the airport, trying to get to where Hei's plane would be landing before 12:30, which was only 15 minutes away.

Just the thought that she would be able to meet Hei again made Suou joyful. But knowing that she not only would meet him, but would get to travel with him again made her nearly ecstatic. With 5 minutes until the plane's landing, Suou and July arrived at the airport Hei would come to, and just on time, the intercom came on to announce that the plane from China had just landed.

"July, can you check if Hei is there?" Suou asked July, who then looked around and found a glass bottle on the ground, and picked it up.

Using his power as a Doll, July used the glass bottle to send his Surveillance Specter to the glass of the plane windows. That way, he could see all of the passengers on the plane, and as such find Hei if he were on the plane.

"There he is, his Doll is with him." July said after a moment of silence.

"His Doll? You mean Izanami?" Suou asked, automatically thinking back to when Izanami destroyed her memories by crushing her meteor core.

"She won't try anything like that this time, Izanami's personality was removed back at the Gate." July said to calm Suou down. "They're starting to get out of the plane." July said, and the two of them looked over to the plane's door.

Just a second afterward, Hei and Yin did indeed exit the plane, Suou became so happy that tears began to form in her eyes. Hei and Yin had noticed July's Surveillance Specter inside the plane, so they looked around once they were off the plane to find him.

"Hei!" Suou shouted to Hei, who at hearing it, looked over to see Suou, but he was not surprised since he was already told of Suou's restoration.

Hei and Yin walked over to Suou and July looking as casual as possible. "We can't talk here, let's go someplace else." Hei whispered to Suou, and continued walking away, Suou and July following him.

Hazuki had also gotten off the plane and walked to the roads, where she saw a taxi cab parked with its window down, and the driver was the person who told her to get BK-201. He looked over to her and waved her to come to the cab. Hazuki did so and got into the back seat of the taxi, and then December drove off.

"I've done what you asked, when will I get what I want?" Hazuki asked.

"All in due time, Miss Hazuki, just be patient for a while." December replied. "In the meantime, please take this." He said, and held a cell phone back to Hazuki. "It will be easier for both of us if I can contact you by phone rather than meet you like this."

Hazuki took the phone. "I still don't trust you, I don't even know who you are." She said.

"That may in fact be for the best right now."

"I know what I gain from this, but what is it you are hoping to accomplish with all this?" Hazuki couldn't help but ask.

"When the page reads 'The End', my dream will be fulfilled." December replied.

"You keep speaking in novel references, how about a straight answer for once?"

"I have been giving you straight answers." December said. "When I told you I was collecting characters for a novel, that is exactly what I meant."

"You mean you're doing all this, gathering all the people that know BK-201; just so that you can write a book?" Hazuki inquired, a tone of disdain in her voice.

December laughed at Hazuki's comment. "I'll admit it does sound silly at first, but it is the truth."

"Ridiculous, but if I really get my revenge for helping you out, I don't care." Hazuki said and December stopped the cab.

"Here you are, Miss." December told Hazuki, who paid him for the cab drive, opened the car door and left, afterward watching him drive off.

Suou and July lead Hei and Yin back to the empty house they stayed at. The four of them entered the house and sat around the table in the middle of the room. "So how did you two know we were coming?" Hei asked Suou and July.

"Everything is going according to _his_ plan." July said.

"Do you know who the 'mastermind' is?" Hei asked.

"Yes," July answered. "But I can't give you the details on him."

"Is he at least someone we can trust?" Hei asked.

"Yes, he is for the moment at the very least." July answered.

"What do you mean, July?" Suou asked.

"He has something to gain from doing this and helping you. So he wouldn't do anything to hurt you, or he would risk ruining his own plans." July explained.

"Well, that's good to hear at least." A voice suddenly sounded from the front window. Surprised, the four of them stood up and faced the window, and they saw a momonga with a red cloth around it's neck sitting there. "It's been a long time, Hei, Yin." It spoke.

"Mao!?" Hei said, both as a statement and a question, having not seen him since the Gate incident.

"Why are you here?" Suou asked.

"Same reason as all of you. I was wandering around in this form 3 days ago when someone plucked me out of the air and whispered to me. Told me to come to this address at this time. After he let me go, I tried to get a look at his face but he was already gone." Mao explained flying over to the table. "I must say that I was suspicious at first, considering he knew that I was inside this animal and where to find me, but figured there couldn't be too much harm in checking his information. Although I certainly wasn't expecting to find the lot of you." He said with a bit of a laugh. "So July, are there any others involved in this?"

"Yes, but I don't know all of who they are." July said. "And I can't tell you about the one I do."

"Do you have any idea what it is we're supposed to do next?" Hei asked July.

"No, he will let us know when it is time though." July answered. "In the meantime, we go about life as normal, that's what he normally has us do between major points."

"I don't really understand what's going on here, but I say we should put some trust in this mysterious man, it may prove interesting." Mao suggested.

"If July says it's okay, I'll go along with it. After all it's because of him I got to meet Hei again." Suou agreed.

"I have something to gain from this as well, if what you say is true of him July, it is probably in our best interest to play along." Hei said.

To finish the agreements, July and Yin both simply nodded their heads, and so the five of them decided to go about life as normal as possible.

Just outside the house July, Suou, Yin, Hei and Mao were meeting, a car was parked in the opposite driveway. In the car was Misaki, having gone to the airport as well after Madam Oreille told her BK-201 had gotten on a flight bound for Tokyo. How she was happy to see her trust in December had not been ill-placed, she still had her doubts about his plans, and thought it best not to approach BK-201 for a while.

"Li, you're really here..." Misaki whispered to herself in her happiness of seeing him again, after 6 long months since the incidents at the Gate.

"Madam Oreille, Suou Pavlichenko, Mao, July, August, Yin, BK-201, Mina Hazuki, Misaki Kirihara, and finally myself." December muttered to himself the characters he had picked out to help him write his story. "At long last, the true story can begin. All that's left to do is to pick out the most appropriate timeframe in which to begin..." He said, and his eyes glowed red and he was surrounded by a blue aura, signifying the use of his Contractor ability.


	7. First Test

_Chapter 7: First Test_

August 7 walked down a street holding a glass bottle in the middle of the night. As he walked by a certain house, he tapped the window with the bottle he had, then looked inside for a moment. It was too dark inside to see anything, but he walked away after 8 seconds as if satisfied, and held the bottle up so he could look at it.

After a moment, a surveillance specter appeared on the bottle, which only Contractors could see. The specter was July's, who was who August had tried to get. "Hey, July, I got a message for you from Happy Ending." August said to the specter, so only July could hear him. "It's been a month since BK-201 got here, so the lot of you are probably getting restless, wondering when the guy that got them all here is going to do something. Well, he says before the climax, BK-201 and his friends will need to go through some trials. So for that extent, he's let word, 'slip', that the Black Reaper is back in town to most all Contractors in Tokyo." August told July, who had no way of conveying back to August what he thought of this plan. "Also there's a bit of a price on his head, but it's not like he doesn't already have some enemies amongst Contractors in the first place so that's really just oil on the fire.

"So Contractors will start hunting you all down. Each battle will become more and more difficult, then when he feels it's time, he will reveal himself. December wants you to tell the other's only that word of BK-201's return has spread, BK-201 will be suspicious of you if he knows you've had contact with 'the man pulling the strings' and he can't have that. Also, December wants me to tell you to duck in about 5 seconds." August said, then threw the bottle in his hand behind him, letting it break on the road.

July stopped using his specter and then bent down so his head wasn't in view of the window anymore, and just as he did, something small shot through the window and into the ground just about a foot from July. Rather than breaking the window when it went through like a bullet would, but just made a small hole without even cracking the surrounding glass. When July checked what had been shot, he found it was a pencil eraser, even though, with the power that had been applied to it, if July hadn't ducked down it would have easily pierced his skull and killed him.

July then started to run toward the stairs, and some more pencil erasers began shooting through the window, trying to hit July, but they all missed because of his running.

"Damn it, how'd he now we were here!?" The woman who had shot the pencil erasers cursed through her teeth. "There's no glass close enough to us he could have used as his medium."

The woman was African and had her black hair tied back behind her head. She was wearing a commando vest and camouflage cargo pants one would expect to see on an army soldier; she also had several pouches on her waist. Behind her was a Caucasian man in matching attire and sunglasses that would only impair his vision, especially at night. He had a displeased frown on his face and shortcut blonde hair.

"Well there is my glasses but I definitely would have seen the specter if he had done that." The man noted

"I don't understand how you see anything with those things on. Just whatever, let's get on with this." The woman said and broke one of the tiles on the roof of the house the two stood on with her fist before they both jumped off and ran for the house BK-201 was. "Go around the back, I'll go on ahead." The woman told her ally and he did as instructed.

The woman kicked in the door and ran for the stairs. She saw light coming from around the corner and knew that was where she'd find her target. She turned at the corner and was about to run into the open room when she was suddenly met with a knife flying toward her head. In a split second she managed to duck below the knife and then rolled into the room pulling an eraser from one of the pouches on her waist and aiming it for the one she knew as BK-201.

She looked around and saw four people; one was of course BK-201, another was the doll she failed to kill. Then there were two girls, one appeared to be a young Contractor while the other was probably a doll.

"So you're the legendary 'Black Reaper'." The woman noted. She held her eraser up as BK-201 held another knife at ready. "I've heard a lot about you. You've made quite a few enemies haven't you?"

"Who sent you?" BK-201 asked.

"Can't you guess? What group would want you dead the most?" She asked, almost sounding rhetorical, but when no answer came, she told him. "The Syndicate, duh! Or at least what's left of it; after all the grief you caused our group and forcing us to go even further underground then we already were to where people actually thought we were gone; once it sneaked out you were back, they sent us to deal with you."

"'Us'?" Hei repeated the woman's choice of words just as the window behind him was broken in by an invisible force and the woman's partner jumped into the room. The moment he was in the room his eyes glowed red and he gained a blue aura, signifying the use of his ability. He put his right hand up and an invisible force pushed Hei's hand back and knocked his knife away from him.

In that moment of confusion, the woman used her chance to use her ability and fired off the eraser off at Hei at an incredible speed. But Hei managed to get out of the way by flipping backward and the eraser shoot through the brick wall behind him.

Hei grabbed his knife before it hit the ground and threw it immediately at the female Contractor, who reacted swiftly and threw herself to the side and it lodged itself into the wall.

With all the confusion the small room turned into a battlefield. Yin and July backed up to the walls, as they wouldn't help much being Dolls. Suou however took advantage of all the confusion and tackled the man just as he readied another invisible blast with his Contractor ability, knocking him over.

Hei side-stepped as the woman shot another eraser at him, and then pulled two more knifes from his pockets and threw them at her one after the other. At that moment the woman pulled out another 3 erasers and fired them all at once with her thumb. Two of them went in between the two blades of each knife and struck them at the base, stopping them in mid-air before reaching her. The third one went past the two knifes at strait for Hei's forehead, but he shifted his head away to the side and avoided it by a centimeter.

Then Suou gave out a yell as the man used his ability to push her back into a wall and knock her unconscious. "Suou," Hei looked over to her and the man was readying another blast to finish her off. But Hei took the metal cord strapped to his belt and threw it toward him, circling it around his neck and starting to choke him.

Hei pulled him away from Suou and readied his own ability to electrocute him. But then the woman noticed it and opened a different one of her pouches and pulled out a small nick of metal and used her ability to shot it strait though Hei's cord to set her partner free, who threw aside the remaining cord.

The three came to a stand-still. Hei had another knife at ready to throw at either of them while the woman had another eraser ready to shot and the man had his hand up for another blast. "So is this all you have? I must say I'm disappointed. I thought you would be more of a challenge. How's this though, I'll give you a choice. Come with us quietly back to the Syndicate and the boss might feel merciful and settle at putting you through the ME. It's a pretty good deal if you ask me, and a logical decision at that." The woman told Hei, as Contractors are supposed to be very logical beings.

Hei looked as if considering the offer for a moment, then replied. "The logical decision huh? In that case… I refuse." Hei said, and before either of his opponents could react surprised, the man was suddenly knocked out and flung to the ground.

When the woman looked at what had happened, she saw Suou behind him holding up an anti-tank rifle. But before she could even curse her for having done so, Hei threw his knife into her shoulder and knocked her off balance, also dropping her eraser and then Hei ran up to her, clasping one hand on her face and using the other to restrain one arm while restraining her other with his knee.

"Now its your turn." Hei said. "You can either die right now, or you can tell me how the Syndicate found out I was back and I'll settle at tying you up and giving you over to the police."

The female Contractor, seeing no way out of this like in Hei's case, decided on the logical choice. "I don't know the specifics. Some guy who apparently introduced himself as 'Happy Ending', which sounds like some kind of sick joke to me, arranged for a meeting with the boss and told him everything we needed to know about your location. When asked what the catch was he said there was none, he just wanted us to do our best to try and take you out."

"Do you know anything about this, 'Happy Ending'?" Hei asked.

"Nope, he was completely aloof. No one ever saw his face and spoke with the boss via phone. That's all I got, now can you let us perform our Obeisance before you book us. I need to break something and he needs something bright shined in his eyes." The woman said.

Hei nodded to Suou and July. Suou went and grabbed a glass cup and put it underneath the woman's hand, which she brought down and smashed the cup to pieces. July took a flashlight and opened the man's eyes to shine the light into them, which also made him wake up with a start. He put his arm over his eyes and used his other hand to find his sunglasses, which he put back before surveying the area. Suou picked up her anti-tank gun and pointed it at him ready to fire if he tried anything. They didn't know it, but that was an empty threat, Suou was still abiding by her and Hei's promise not to shoot in exchange for him not drinking anymore.

"So that's how it is huh?" He stated, almost sounding happy about the situation.

July and Yin got some rope and tied up the two Contractors, afterward dropping them near the police station covertly, as not to be discovered themselves, after which they returned to the house.

"…So there you have it. It's all going well so far." December said to August beside him. The two of them were in the bar they seemed to frequent so much, and December had just given August the latest on his novel.

"I like how this is going, and not that I'm not happy about being kept in the loop but… why are you?" August asked.

"You are my very important right-hand character. I need you for a number of things to work out properly. Besides, of all those I worked with at the MI-6, you are the one I considered most my friend. I want to keep you in the loop as much as I can." December answered.

August laughed and took another sip of his drink. "You know, I considered you the same way up until you left. Now I just… I'm never sure what's going on in your head, which I find disappointing since we are really so alike."

"Just another reason I'm keeping you in the loop." December said, taking a sip of his drink. "I want to rebuild the trust I lost from you." He said, and he and August stared at each other for a moment, as if waiting for the other do something stupid. "Well, I've got to get to work on the next chapter, so if you'll excuse me." December told August and stood up and left the bar.


	8. Off the Grid

_Chapter 8: Off the Grid_

In the middle of the night, most everyone in Tokyo was asleep. To avoid being seen by anyone still around, Mina Hazuki ran through the city on the rooftops. _"Two Contractors were just dropped off at the Police Station by BK-201. I need you to go and get them for me, once you have them in a safe place I'll call back."_ Those were the instructions given to her over the phone by the mysterious man writing a novel using people around BK-201. Hazuki still felt it was a joke, although he had told her directly that it was no metaphor.

Hazuki arrived at the police station and saw two people down below tied up near the front doors. Luckily no one had seen the two yet or come out of the station, so they could be rescued without causing a scene. Hazuki took out two small wooden stakes and activated her ability, which hyper-energized the stakes into glowing blue weapon. With deadly accuracy, she threw the two stakes down toward the people who were tied up, immediately severing their binds and then sticking into the ground before Hazuki's ability wore off.

For a moment the two people were confused at what had just happened and then looked in the direction the projectiles had come from. When they saw Hazuki she motioned them to get up and follow as she put down a rope for them to climb up the building she was on with.

"Who are you? Are you with the Syndicate?" The African woman asked Hazuki when she got up.

"No, just follow me." Hazuki said and began to run and jump past the buildings again.

Not entirely sure what was going on, the two people exchanged glances and then followed Hazuki. After awhile Hazuki stopped and let the two catch up with her. Once they were there, the man with blonde hair and sunglasses walked up to her. "Alright now what/" He started, but was cut off by Hazuki suddenly grabbing his collar and kissing him.

Both him and his partner were stunned by this until Hazuki released the kiss a few seconds later. "Don't get excited, that's just my Obeisance." Hazuki informed the man, whose simply shocked expression couldn't reveal whether or not he had enjoyed the kiss.

The woman almost broke out laughing, but then remember what she wanted to ask. "So who are you and why did you free us if you're not with the Syndicate?"

"Do you really think the Syndicate would have cared enough to rescue you in the first place?" Hazuki asked. "My name's Mina Hazuki, what's yours?"

"I'm Amara Parker, he's Harvey Baxter. Now would you please tell me why you bailed us out?" Amara said, almost yelling.

"Not exactly the grateful type are you? I don't know why I was sent to get you two, but obviously you two play important parts. If you just wait a minute I'm sure he's about to call." Hazuki said and not a second later he phone rang and she picked it up. "So what now?"

"Put me on speaker." The man on the other end of the phone, who Hazuki was unaware was actually December.

Hazuki did as told. "So what do we do?"

"Hello Miss Amara Parker, Mister Harvey Baxter." December said.

"How do you know our names? Who are you?" Amara asked.

"My name is of no concern, but the two of you know me as 'Happy Ending'." December said, surprising the two.

"You're the guy that told the Syndicate the Black Reaper was back!" Harvey noted.

"Correct, although you might more accurately call me your boss now. You see I have taken over the Syndicate operation because I saw that your previous leader's work would become unsatisfactory."

"Hey, hey, if we did such an unsatisfactory job why'd you bother to spring us?" Harvey asked with impatience.

"You misunderstand, I said your leader's work would become unsatisfactory, not that your performance was." December corrected.

"How does that work?" Amara asked, also getting ticked off. "Right now we're the only example you've got of the Syndicate's work. How can you be satisfied with us and not our boss."

"The reasons are not yet for you to know. But you both have something to gain by cooperating with me, just as Miss Hazuki does." December told them, who then looked up at Hazuki, who nodded in confirmation.

"Alright we're listening, so what is it you want us to do, boss?" Amara asked.

"There's a certain person I need you to make sure gets to a certain place tomorrow. Normally I would just have Miss Hazuki do it but I have other matters for her to take care of. That is why I got you out of trouble with the police, that way I could have more characters to act off the grid."

"Wait, did you just call us characters?" Harvey asked.

"Never mind that, just listen to my instructions and follow them out immediately." December said.

Once they had their orders, Amara and Harvey left Hazuki to do the work set out for them. Once they were gone, Hazuki took the phone off speaker and held it up to her ear. "You said you needed me to do something else while they did that right? What is it?" She asked.

"Ah yes, what you need to do is actually nothing major, but it will have a necessary impact on my story. I need you to go back and collect the ropes you cut off Miss Parker and Mister Baxter that you left back at the police station. However, be sure to leave the wooden stakes you used to cut them off with." December explained.

"Why, if I'm going though the trouble I might as well get both, right?"

"It is necessary that the police find those stakes stuck in the ground so I can keep another of my characters momentarily occupied, but I don't want them to be searching for the people that were tied up, so I need you to just collect the ropes."

Knowing that this man was only using people who had connections to BK-201, Hazuki's could only think of one person in the police force that fit that description. "Kirihara?" She questioned.

"Indeed, now if you would please do so." December told Hazuki and hung up.

Looking on it now, Hazuki figured it was only natural Misaki Kirihara also be one of this man's characters. The only person who knew BK-201 better than her was probably Izanami. Putting the phone in her pocket she headed back to the police station and collected the ropes that had been used to bind Amara and Harvey and left, joining the regular town in the night.

"Hey, do you really think we can trust this 'Happy Ending' guy?" Harvey asked Amara on their way to their destination.

"It's not really a matter of whether we trust him or not anymore, he took over the Syndicate, or at least that's what he said. But I doubt that guy's dumb enough to try and lie about something that serious. Let's just get this over with." Amara said.

After a few minutes the two arrived at their destination. "Here's the note he told us to write." Harvey said and handed a small piece of paper to Amara.

Amara took out a nail from one of her side pouches and stuck it in the note. Then she used her ability and shot the nail into one of the doors of a small apartment complex, immediately proceeding to smash a chuck of rock she picked up for her Obeisance. "What exactly do you think he expects this person to do once they read the note? I mean would you do what a note said when you found it on your door in the morning?"

"Not logically, but this person is a human right? That doesn't apply to them."

"I guess you're right about that. But still, who is this person to the Black Reaper?"

"Perhaps we'll find out at some point. Let's just head back for now."

"Alright," Amara said and the two of them set off to get back to the Syndicate.

It was 8:00 in the morning when the door that held the note left by Amara and Harvey was opened by the person that lived inside. "Hm, what's this?" The female voice asked herself and took the note off the door. "'Come to the supermarket at 10:30.' What's this about?"

At 9:30 Hei was walking though the streets attempting to look as nonchalant as possible. Then, he bumped elbows with a man probably in his 30's. "Oh, sorry about that." He said to the man and continued walking on. He then looked at his hand, viewing the man's wallet he had taken from his pocket when he bumped into him. After all, since he and the other would be staying in Tokyo for now, they needed to have money for food.

However, if he were to get a job that would just make it easier for the Syndicate to track him down. So for now he needed to get money this way. He headed back to the house Suou and the others were at and entered. "Alright, I've got some money now, I'll head to the supermarket and pick up some food to last us a week or two." He told them and left again.

"With Hei's stomach I wonder how much food that actually is." Mao said. "It'll probably make the guy who owns the credit card go bankrupt."

"It can't be helped," July noted.

"Yeah, I know."

It was now 10:26 at the supermarket. "Oh man, who the heck would leave such a cryptic note." Said the woman who found the note on her apartment door. "Come at 10:30, they don't even tell me what to look for! And to think I could be back drinking some beers right now."

The woman was about to give up and go back home when she turned and saw a certain person purchasing a ton of groceries at the check-out line. "Yes, all this please." The man she saw said in a friendly manner. The cashier looked unsure at the man's decision to buy so much food at once, but began passing through the items anyways.

The woman squinted as if to try and get a better look at the man's face, thinking for sure it was a trick of the eyes. "No way is that… It is!" She said finally believing what her eyes were perceiving. "Hey, Li!" She called out and ran over to the man with an immense amount of food.

Hearing that name called, Hei looked up to look at who it had been. The person he saw was a dark-skinned women with orange hair and wore a pick button vest. "You're…" He started, not believing what he was seeing.

"Hey Li, you remember me right? It's me, Irene!" The woman said.


	9. The Past Haunts You

_Chapter 9: The Past Haunts You_

"Hey Li, you remember me right? It's me, Irene!" The woman said.

Indeed, Hei did remember Irene. Before the Tokyo Explosion while he was still working for the Syndicate he had lived in an apartment building along with 3 men and this woman- Irene. As Hei recalled, she had moved here from the Philippines and began to work as a hostess in order to get money for her family back in her homeland.

It wasn't surprising she was still in Tokyo, although he had never expected to ever run into any of those people from that time again. Now faced with Irene, Hei was uncertain how to react, and so just spouted out the first thing that ended up coming to mind. "Oh, Irene, how have you been." Hei began this way in the kind voice he had used whenever around others before he could come up with the conclusion he should feign ignorance, and now it was too late.

"So where have you been all this time? You just sort of vanished into thin air you know?" Irene asked.

Already past being able to pretend he didn't know who she was, Hei quickly thought up a story. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain, but there were some problems concerning my student exchange program, so I ended up having to leave before I even really knew what was going on." He said.

"Really, so then what are you doing back in Japan?" Irene inquired.

"Ah, actually I came back to finish my studies." Hei gave this excuse, as he couldn't think of anything better on the spot and it seemed the most believable excuse in this condition. "I would've been back faster, but part of the problem with my student exchange program was that the forms for the program were all completely lost. So I had to register for everything all over again."

"Man, that's rough. So does that mean you got a new place to live while you're here this time?" Irene asked, since obviously he wasn't staying at their apartment building now.

"Yeah, the accommodations are good." Hei answered.

"Well hey, if you ever have the time, you should come and visit us back at the apartment."

"I'd like that; although I'm not sure if I'll ever have time."

"Alright sir, that'll be 40672 Yen." The cashier told Hei when he had finished bagging his excessive amount of groceries.

"Ah, thank you." Hei told the man and paid using one of the credit cards from the wallet he had stolen. "I'm going to have to go now Irene, I hope I can find time to visit."

"Yeah, see ya then." Irene replied and watched Hei walk out of the store. Then Irene was brought back to the note she had found on her door in the morning, her original purpose for coming here.

She looked over at a clock and found that it was now 10:34, four minutes after the note had said to be here. Assuming this wasn't supposed to be a practical joke, whatever the person who left the note had meant for her to be here for, she had probably missed it. "Oh well, I'm gonna' head back and have a beer!" She said tossing the note in the nearest trash can and leaving the grocery store.

What Irene did not know was that meeting Hei was exactly what the sender's intentions had been. In addition, Amara and Harvey were currently watching her from across the street. They had come to be sure the meeting had taken place. "So what do you think he wants her for?" Amara asked Harvey.

"Beats me; but at least we know how they're connected." Harvey replied.

"Right, she had known him back when he was still working for the Syndicate. Still, makes you wonder doesn't it?"

"Perhaps, but I'm still more interested in what our new boss thinks we have to gain from cooperating." Harvey said.

"We'll figure that out sooner or later." Amara shrugged.

"My bet's on later." Harvey said, and they two of them walked away from the scene.

While all that had been going on, Misaki Kirihara was busy with police work. She had been called down by Goro after he had found two wooden stakes stabbed into the ground in front of the police station. "The only way wooden stakes could have been drilled into the ground like this is if a Contractor had been involved." Goro said to Kirihara as she examined the scene.

"If that's true, then we are most likely looking for a Contractor with and weapon energizing ability." Kirihara stated, and then thought for a moment. "Hey, you don't think it could be…"

"Hazuki?" Goro finished her question for her. "I had taken the possibility into consideration; but it's been 7 months since we heard anything from her. I find it strange that she would resurface so suddenly."

"I suppose you're right. There are plenty of Contractors with that ability besides." Kirihara added, and returned her attention to the stakes. "There's still the question of what the culprit was doing in the first place? And why they left the stakes?"

"Hey, chief!" Kouno said as he and Saito ran up to her. They had been interviewing people around the area in case anyone who lived in the area might have seen something; apparently they had gotten a witness.

"What is it, you two?" Kirihara asked them.

"A man wearing a black trench coat told us that he had been walking around here last night and thought he saw a woman in a suit in front of the police station." Saito told her.

"He said he didn't get a good look at her and didn't think anything of it at the time until he walked by here today and saw the crime scene." Kouno said.

"What, why didn't you bring him in for further questioning?" Kirihara asked them.

"We would have, but we took our eyes off him for only a second and he was gone." Kouno answered.

"A woman in a suit?" Goro repeated the description. "It couldn't be…"

"You really think it could be Hazuki?" Kirihara asked, thinking the same thing as Goro.

Goro sighed. "I still think it's a bit unusual for her to have reappeared so suddenly, but based on that description it seems more likely to be her."

"So what should we do?" Kirihara asked.

"We should follow this up; even if we don't find anything, we don't exactly have any other leads." Goro said, and the others nodded.

December walked away from the police station, having fulfilled what he had wanted. With this distraction of Hazuki, Misaki wouldn't have any time to watch BK-201. December needed this so she wouldn't make any actions that could change the course of the story. December took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Hazuki's number.

Hazuki heard the phone ring and picked it up quickly. "What is it?" She asked.

"I've set Miss Kirihara on your trail." December told her.

"What, why? If she's trying to find me won't it be more difficult for me to move around 'off the grid'?" Hazuki asked.

"I now have Miss Parker and Mister Baxter for those jobs. But the consequence of my doing this was already an important part of the story. I've just found that faster is the better way." December told her.

Hazuki clicked her tongue in slight annoyance. "Very well, so what exactly do I do?" She asked.

"Keep an eye on Miss Kirihara as she keeps an eye out for you. The specifics are up to you, but that much is necessary." December told Hazuki and hung up the phone.

Hazuki put the phone back in her pocket. "The specifics are up to me? That's a first." She said to herself, then wondered off.

Hei opened up the door to the house he and everyone else were staying at, carrying in a couple handfuls of the groceries. "Ah, welcome back, Hei." Mao said when he saw him.

"Right," Hei replied. "Mao, while I was at the store, I ran into Irene." He told him, and Mao vaguely remembered who that was.

"Huh, who's Irene?" Suou asked.

"She's a woman who lived in the same apartment building as me back when I was still working for the Syndicate." Hei told Suou.

"Is this a problem?" July asked.

"Not necessarily," Mao answered. "But if she pokes around Hei too much she could get in the way."

"Right, and if she goes telling the others from then it could be even worse. But if I can avoid them from now on it shouldn't be a problem."

"Alright then," Mao nodded to this decision.

It was near midnight, and August 7 stood on top of the roof of the apartment building Irene lived in unseen because everyone was currently sleeping. However there was one person not at the building yet: Irene. December had contacted August to give him a job that, as he stood there waiting for her return from her job, he found somewhat enjoyable.

He looked down the street and finally saw the dark skinned woman approaching the apartments. He grinned as he hopped down from the roof and began to walk toward her in a casual stride she wouldn't have found suspicious.

She was just about to walk past him when August spoke to her. "Greetings, ma'am." August said politely.

Irene stopped at being addressed by the strange man in a red overcoat and top hat that she had never met before. "Huh, are you talking to me?" She asked.

August smirked. "Yes, you see I have come representing an acquaintance. He wishes me to tell you that he would like to have a chat with you and apologize on his behalf for being unable to meet with you earlier at the supermarket." August told her as December had told him to.

Irene gasped. "The guy that put that note on my door?" She asked for confirmation.

"Yes, he had something important to ask of you, but some other things did come up." August told her. "If you would be kind enough to come with me, I can take you to him." He said and held out his hand in invitation.

Irene looked at his hand suspiciously, not entirely sure if this was safe. After all, she had no idea who these guys were or what they actually wanted from her. But curiosity overruled her sense of logic, and she took August's hand. "Alright, let's go." She said, and August grinned.

"Very good, come with me then." August told her, and before Irene knew what was happening his eyes glowed red and he had a blue aura surround him as he used his Contractor ability she had probably only ever heard of having existed.

And then they were gone…

It wasn't more than 3 hours later that Irene stood on the edge of the roof of a skyscraper closest to where she was heading. However, this was no longer the Irene that Hei had stayed with before the Tokyo explosion. No, now this Irene that stood on the edge of a skyscraper; that was wearing slim, black silk clothing that covered most of her body and had a sword strapped on her back had a grin sprawled across her face that would remind one of an insane killer stalking their prey. "Get ready now, 'cause I'm coming for you… BK-201!" She said into the night, and then gripped the handle of her sword and leaped off the roof of the skyscraper, heading for a target she had been sent to fight.

This Irene… was a Contractor.


	10. Reunion

_Chapter 10: Reunion_

"I'm coming for you… BK-201!" Irene said into the night and then leaped off the skyscraper roof, heading for a target she had been sent to fight.

Irene was now a Contractor, and as she leaped off that building nearly 70 meters above the ground, her eyes glowed red and she was covered in a blue aura that signified the use of her new found ability.

She smiled as she fell downward toward the ground, but her ability in itself was not going to let her survive a fall that great. Rather, it was what she would do with the help of the ability that would save her from becoming a pancake. As she fell she saw a flagpole sticking out of the side of the skyscraper and reached her hand out making to grab it.

At the very moment her hand touched the flagpole, Irene gripped it and kicked her legs inward, giving her the perfect momentum to spin on the flagpole like an acrobat and she planted her feet on top of it, balancing perfectly. But she wasn't done yet, next she leaped from the very edge of that flagpole and landed safely on the rooftop of another building just in front of her and ran across it to begin jumping from rooftop to rooftop, using acrobat-like skills to flip, twirl, and leap across the city toward her target: BK-201.

That was her ability. She could see, hear, and smell farther and more clearly. She could taste and feel more distinctly, but it didn't stop there. She could react to things more accurately, her brain was now capable of taking in and analyzing the extra information her heightened senses could take in, and react just as quickly. Plus, her brain's enhanced processing ability in turn enhanced her physical capabilities. Her speed, flexibility, balance, accuracy, strength, endurance, and even her problem-solving capabilities were raised to superhuman levels.

With an ability like hers, it was not surprising that she was so excited to use it. And now, in less than 20 minutes, she had run across almost 5 kilometers across town without so much as running out of breath and came to a stop in front of the house her target was waiting in. However, with her increased perception, she immediately saw a Surveillance Specter of a Doll on the window. She had already been noticed by the enemy, meaning there was also no reason to try and be sneaky, as such, she jumped forward and crashed into the window to attack her target.

Inside the house, July warned Hei of the impending attack. "Hei, a female Contractor is attacking."

At that moment, they heard a window break open across the hall and before even a second had past the door to the room had been broken in the female Contractor in black silk clothing. Hei pulled a knife to fight the woman obviously sent by the Syndicate, but for some reason the woman froze upon entering the room. "BK-… 201?" She asked as if confused.

Hei was unsure why this woman acted this way, and attempted to get a better look at her face through the darkness. Hei could not see well in the darkness, but her opponent apparently could see quite well despite the absence of light. "Yes, who are-"

"Li?" The woman spoke Hei's name, taking him aback in surprise. Once again he attempted to get a better look on the woman's face.

Then Suou and Yin ran up the stairs, hearing the commotion. "What happened?" Suou shouted and flashed a flashlight into the room.

The woman jumped back to a wall when Suou arrived, and Suou turned the flashlight over to her, and Li finally realized who she was. "Irene?" He said.

"What, is this the Irene you were talking about before?" Suou questioned.

"Li, _you're_ BK-201?" Irene confirmed.

Li looked Irene in the eye with a cold stare while Irene stared back with a look of disbelief. After a moment Irene dropped her head as if resigning to some horrible fate. But then she started laughing darkly, like someone who had finally snapped.

"All that time you were really a Contractor, huh?" Irene spoke again while keeping her head down. "To think we were such good friends… actually, if you were a Contractor back then too, you never really viewed me as a 'friend' did you?"

"And you? We met only this morning, but you didn't seem any different then." Li noted.

"Well that's because in total, I've been a Contractor for 2 hours 37 minutes and 15 seconds." Irene said.

"Wait, if you've only been a Contractor for a little while; then who sent you to deal with me?" Li asked.

"That would be… He called himself 'Happy Ending'." Irene answered.

'Happy Ending'; the same title given by the two Contractors that attacked the previous night. The person who had put the price on Li's head.

"Hey, look," Irene started. "I'm glad we got to meet peacefully one last time before I became a Contractor, but…" Irene paused as if picking her words carefully. "If I waste anymore time my pay is going to be cut."

When Irene said this, her eyes glowed red and her body was given a blue aura. She pulled the sword on her back out and shot toward Li with incredible speed. Li was only just able to bend back out of the way of the attack that nearly cut his head off and then retaliated by throwing the knife in his hand aimed for Irene's forehead.

Irene's enhanced speed however allowed her to move her head below the knife's edge even at that close range. Irene swung her sword at Li's center, but instead of attacking with the blade, she knocked him back by striking with the hilt of the sword. But with her enhanced strength, the effects were not so minor, Irene managed to push Li back and bust a hole in the wall behind him, crashing him down to the ground below, and Irene jumped down to continue the fight.

"Hei!" Suou yelled out and ran to the hole in the wall.

Li stood back up and pulled another knife to fight with. "I guess you really did never think of me as a friends if you were able to attack me like that with zero hesitation. Kind of makes me sad." Irene said and held up her sword again.

"That's right, back then I never looked at anyone as a friend." Li told Irene.

"Well then, let's keep this going for a while." Irene said and swung her sword down on Li again.

Li hopped to the side and threw his knife, but Irene stabbed her sword into the ground and used it to pole-vault herself over the knife and then kicked off the opposite wall and slashed Li again.

Li moved out of the way, but Irene's sword skinned his cheek before he was completely in the clear and he put his back to a wall. "Hei, catch!" Suou called to Li, and when he looked up he saw Suou's anti-tank rifle falling down to him.

Li caught it and immediately pointed it at Irene, but she didn't hesitate for a second. Irene charged at Li by crisscrossing the alley so he couldn't get a clear shot. Irene struck the rifle with her sword and knocked it out of Li's hand, then kicked him in the gut to force him back.

Irene held her sword up, but then Li took the metal cord from his belt and threw it around Irene's blade, hooking around it and prepared to activate his ability. Irene had already been briefed about his ability, and so didn't waste a second to throw the blade away before Li could send an electric current through the cord and sword into her body.

Li stopped the activation of his ability and flipped back to pick up the anti-tank rifle. Irene ran forward to try and get to Li before he could get it, but just as she got close enough, Li put the barrel of the rifle in her face; and they both froze in place.

Li wasn't dumb enough to pull the trigger of an anti-tank rifle in the middle of Tokyo at night. He would only do that if he had to, but otherwise he wanted to avoid causing a panic from a heavy gun fire. Irene realized this fact as well and therefore did not pull away from the gun barrel.

Unbeknownst to Li, she was processing everything in her head to make the best and quickest comeback from the situation. Without even moving her eyes around, Irene was able to accurately take in her surroundings with peripheral vision and her other enhanced senses to get a feel for everything around her; but she knew that if she made the wrong move Li would pull the trigger and if she miscalculated by a centimeter she would die.

In less than 5 seconds she had come up with a plan. Using her hand that was already extended to make a punch to Li, she used her speed and accuracy to get her hand behind the trigger of the rifle to make it so Li couldn't fire it and followed up by pushing the barrel away from her face so she could jump back safely.

Using this window Irene grabbed her sword and jumped up to the roof of the house. "Sorry Li, but if I don't head back now I won't make Obeisance in time." Irene told Li and then turned to run away, but then stopped and continued speaking. "And even if you never saw me as a friend and I'm a Contractor now; it was really nice seeing you again…" She said and ran away before Li could stop her.

Irene ran through a third of Tokyo to arrive at a warehouse that was her designated meeting spot with the man who had picked her up, August, and the man who had set it up, Happy Ending. She opened the door and found both men already there.

"Hello Miss Irene Baltar, welcome back." Happy Ending told her as she walked up to a table to the right side of the warehouse. On the table was a small stack of cash which was her pay for doing the job and a six-pack of beer, which she would need for her Obeisance.

Irene stabbed her sword into the ground and picked up a beer. "Geez," She started as she opened the beer can and held it to her nose for a second, but then held it to the side and let the drink pour out onto the ground. "It just seems like such a waste doesn't it?" She asked herself. Irene had always loved drinking beers, so having to empty a bunch of beer cans for Obeisance really did feel like a waste.

Once through with one can, she opened the second and began pouring it out as well. "So, how was BK-201?" August asked.

Irene tried not to show how bothered she was about having to fight Li when she answered. "He was strong. Just like you said I would have lost if I didn't come back." She said, and then started on the third beer.

"I hope your payment is to your liking. It should be plenty for you and your family back home." Happy Ending noted, and Irene twitched slightly at this.

After she became a Contractor, she didn't feel like she belonged in the regular world. So she cut a deal with these guys that as long as they paid her so she could keep sending money to her family, she'd do these odd jobs for them. She didn't necessarily like it, but it was all she had now; what she was making previously was starting not to make the cut for them back in Philippines because of inflation within the country.

Irene finished the fifth can of beer and dropped the can. "Now then; now that my Obeisance is out of the way…" She began and picked up her sword.

Suddenly, Irene activated her ability again and ran at frightening speeds at Happy Ending. Irene swung her sword for his neck, but he quickly bent back and avoided it. "August," He said and twisted around Irene as August brought a sword out of nowhere and tossed it to him.

Irene span around and their swords clashed. Irene looked at Happy Ending's eyes with an incredible amount of fury held inside, while his on the other hand were completely calm, like he expected and wanted this to happen. "You knew didn't you?" She asked with a bit of a growl. "You had this planned the whole time, didn't you? The note on my door. Meeting Li at the supermarket. Becoming a Contractor; you planned it all!" She said and pushed Happy Ending back, and then made a deep cut on his right shoulder.

Irene ended the use of her ability there however, and Happy Ending didn't seem too distraught. "Happy now?" He asked Irene.

"Not one bit, you're toying with my life and feelings and I don't like it. If this wasn't my only option to help my family you'd be dead right now!" Irene said and put her sword back in it's scabbard.

Irene walked back to the table and picked up the sixth can of beer, emptying it in proportion to the use of her ability. "I am toying with your life." Happy Ending said. "Yours and BK-201's and everyone else's around him. However, I'm actually working toward all your benefits."

The beer can emptied out, and then hearing those words, Irene crushed the can in her hand. "Our benefits?" She asked. "How is pinning me up against Li suppose to help anyone but you!?" She shouted at Happy Ending and threw the crushed can at his head.

Happy Ending waited a moment before answering. "You will see; in time you will see that it was all for the best." He told Irene.

Irene seemed to be cooling down just a bit now. "You say that but I have no reason to trust you. But right now I still need this money for my family, so let me get something strait with you, right here, right now." Irene said and walked back up to Happy Ending, putting a finger in his face threateningly. "If you do anything to hurt Li, or anyone else you're using for that matter, I will kill you no questions asked." Irene warned and began to walk toward the door.

"As you wish." Happy Ending said, but Irene didn't stop walking. "Just keep in mind that I did only ask you to 'test' BK-201. If I meant to do him harm I would have said to kill him." He said, and on that note Irene slammed the door to the warehouse.

"A little hotheaded don't you think Happy Ending?" August asked when she was gone.

"Exactly, it's just what I needed. The rebellious character whose ideas conflict with that of her superior. It sets a sense of anticipation and thrill don't you think?" December replied.

August grinned at this idea. "I guess it does."


	11. Around the Law

_Chapter 11: Around the Law_

It was mid-day now and Hazuki was near the police station. As instructed, she was keeping an eye on Misaki while she was following the lead that may end up with the police finding her. Hazuki still couldn't understand why Happy Ending had left the specifics of what to do up to her, as he had always seemed to give her exact directions to follow before now.

She knew the Happy Ending was well informed on her and apparently everyone that had some kind of connection to BK-201; but even then he shouldn't be able to know how events would unfold just from doing background checks on them all. He was definitely hiding something from Hazuki, but every time she thought about forgetting all about it she was reminded of Happy Ending's promise that following his instructions would help her get revenge on the one who ordered Genma to kill Youko. Even if there was no proof he was telling to truth, Hazuki couldn't bring herself to give up this chance, and so she continued on.

"Kirihara still has the wooden stakes I used to cut Amara and Harvey's ropes. By now I'm sure they pulled my prints and assured themselves it was me that did it." Hazuki said to herself.

Hazuki saw the doors of the station open and Misaki and Goro walked out. Hazuki hid herself around the corner but kept them in her sight. She couldn't tell what they were saying, but was sure it probably had to do with the case.

After a moment of the two speaking, Misaki began looking around as if looking for something. Worried she might be noticed, Hazuki ducked back around the building she was hiding behind. After a moment, Hazuki chanced another glance around the corner, but then saw Misaki and Goro making their way in her direction.

They weren't in a hurry or anything, so it was probably just coincidence they were heading to where she was, but either way Hazuki turned around and walked in the other direction, taking the first turn around a building just before Misaki and Goro turned the corner.

Hazuki hid behind a dumpster in the alleyway and waited for the two of them to pass. She waited nearly a minute to make sure they were well out of her range and that is was safe to stop hiding. To make sure, she took a small peak around the corner of the dumpster to the street and saw that the two were indeed gone, and she stood up and looked out to the street, silently cursing Happy Ending for dragging her into this mess.

December sat in a chair inside the warehouse he was using as a base of sorts with his shirt off as August helped him put fresh bandages on the wound he received from Irene. "Why did you let Irene cut you anyways, Happy Ending?" August asked as he finished applying the bandages. "Surely you could have avoided it if you tried."

With the patch job done, December stood up and put his shirt and overcoat back on. "It was most likely necessary." Was his reply to August. "Miss Baltar needed something to take her anger out on; and as I was the source of it, she chose me. She probably wasn't going to stop until she had wounded me, so I would have had no choice but to allow it."

"You're just guessing?" August asked.

"Yes, as you're aware I can no longer remember a possibility I have seen after the chance for it has past." December answered, referencing his Contractor power, whatever it was.

"So what happens next?" August wished to know.

"First I need to leave an anonymous message for someone, and then I have some jobs that need taking care of." December answered and pulled out his cell phone.

After leaving the anonymous message, December dialed up his next call. "Miss Parker, I have something I need you and Mister Baxter to do…"

"You want us to what!?" Amara shouted back at December once she was told the job; and Harvey looked over at her, wondering what she had been told. "What does something like that have to do with the Black Reaper? The whole reason you took over the Syndicate was to get him right; so why are you having us do something so pointless?"

"It is a necessary step, rest assured." December told Amara. "Simply think of this as what it is, an order from your superior that is to be followed out."

Amara pulled the phone away from her head and clicked her tongue in annoyance where December wouldn't be able to hear her, and then put it back to her ear. "Alright fine, we'll get the job done." She told him with reluctance.

"Good," December told her. "Oh, but this job is a strictly covert mission for you two. There's no using your powers on this job."

Hearing this, Amara had to strain herself from cursing her new boss out. "What do you mean? What if we get caught?" She asked.

"Then run," December said simply, and then hung up before Amara could get another word in.

When Amara realized he had hung up, she looked down at the phone and tried to keep herself from yelling, but couldn't contain her rage. "DAMN IT! That guy ticks me off!" She said and stuffed the phone in her pocket.

"What's the job?" Harvey asked, half-laughing at Amara's reactions.

"I'll explain it later!" Amara shouted and walked toward the stairs of the house. "We leave at 11:00 PM, make sure to wake me up before then." She told Harvey and then went upstairs.

"Got it," Harvey said, not going to argue with Amara while she was pissed.

"And now for Miss Baltar," December said after hanging up on Amara.

"You're using Irene again already; don't you think you should give her a little more time to calm down before giving her another job?" August asked.

"Nonsense, it is because she hates me so much that she will be more useful than anyone. Only by following my orders to the letter can she keep a close enough eye on everyone I'm using for my novel to ensure I keep my promise and don't hurt anyone connected to BK-201." December told August.

In response, August laughed. "Even knowing what your ability is, sometimes it just seems amazing how much you know."

"And even when I have this ability, there are some things that just don't lose their surprising quality even if I know it's going to happen." December added, and then began to dial up the number of the cell phone he had given to Irene before her fight with BK-201 the previous night.

Irene answered the phone immediately. "What do I have to do?" She asked, getting straight to the punch.

"Come meet up with me, I need you to deliver something for me." December told her.

"Fine," Irene answered and hung up. After 20 minutes, Irene opened the door to the warehouse and walked up to December in her combat suit, having changed before heading over. "So where am I heading?" She asked, obviously still pissed at December, and she likely would remain angry with him for a long time to come.

In response, December tossed a sealed package to Irene. "I need you to get this where another of my characters will be sure to find it." He told her and then August walked up and handed her a piece of paper. "These are directions on how to get where you're going. Head out immediately; and just so you know, another one of the people working for me will be there soon who only vaguely knows about you, so I'll need you to evacuate the delivery sight as soon as you're done."

"Tch, fine. I'll be heading back here right after to pick up my pay." Irene said and left the warehouse to take care of business.

"It's still hard to believe," Misaki said from the back of the car while Goro drove.

"Well the fingerprints we pulled off the stakes were a 100% match for Mina Hazuki." Goro replied. "It's still a complete mystery what she's doing, or even where she is, but since she's a Contractor that defected from the agency this has become a top priority matter."

"Yes, I understand but, where do we start?" Misaki asked.

"We'll go back to the lab where she disappeared at after fighting Genma and go from there."

"Will we really be able to find anything? We investigated her disappearance when it happened too, but we couldn't get any clues as to where she went."

"Perhaps, but it's all we've got to go on at the moment." Goro stated unhappily as they arrived at their destination.

Goro and Misaki unbuckled their seatbelts and started to open their doors. But suddenly Misaki noticed something that shouldn't have been there. "Wait, what is that on the door?" She asked, alerting Goro to the item in question.

Goro looked at the door and saw some kind of package tied to the doorknob. "Is someone else here?" He wondered.

Just in case, the two of them pulled out their handguns and approached the door slowly. When they came up to the door, Goro looked down on the package without touching it. "Well," Misaki inquired, wondering if Goro could find anything wrong with it.

"This package is… addressed to us." Goro said.

"What?" Misaki questioned, and then looked at the package herself. Sure enough, on the package, there was a typed letter on it that read 'To: Goro Kobayashi and Misaki Kirihara'. (It couldn't be, December?) Misaki thought to herself. Perhaps she was being paranoid, but Misaki wondered if Li's return to Tokyo and Hazuki's sudden reappearance were somehow connected to each other. If that were true, it was likely also December that had left this package. "Do you think it's safe to open?"

"It's impossible to say, for all we know it could be a bomb." Goro answered.

Just then, the tie that held up the package snapped and the package fell to the ground. Goro and Misaki stepped away, about to try and run under the bomb pretext, but when the package hit the ground nothing happened. After a moment, Goro reached down and picked up the package and examined it more closely. Since impact apparently had no effect on whatever was inside, he began shaking it to see if he identify what the contents were made of.

"From the sound it seems to be just paper." Goro stated. "I'll open it and see just what this is."

Slowly, Goro put his gun away and then began to tear open the package. Inside was a folded sheet of paper. It seemed odd to have a letter inside of a package instead of an envelope, but nonetheless Goro took the letter and read it to himself. After a moment his face lit up with surprise, and Misaki wondered what the letter said.

"What does it say?" Misaki asked.

"Read for yourself." Goro said, and handed her the letter so she could read it.

The letter read: _Dear Mr. Kobayashi and Ms. Kirihara,_

_ I'm sure you are wondering who I am, but I cannot tell you that in this letter. If you'd like, you can think of me as a vigilante, even though that is not technically a correct statement; I am someone who can help you get to a certain Mina Hazuki whom you are searching for._

_ If you follow my directions given in this letter, you will be able to apprehend her. Do not look away from this letter as you read, but Mina Hazuki is currently observing you from around the left hand corner of this building. When you enter the building, do not close the door all the way, leave it open just a crack and wait behind it for exactly 42 seconds. At this moment, Mina Hazuki will be right outside the door. If you open the door at this time and point your guns at her, you will be able to apprehend her._

_ This letter is to be burned before anyone else reads it. you will not be able to find any trail linking this package to me or its sender so please dispose of the package as well. I wish you good luck, and goodbye for now._

That was it, it had been left unsigned to keep the sender anonymous, but reading through it, Misaki felt certain it could have been no one other than December. Keeping this fact to herself, she looked at Goro and nodded to signify she felt they should give this a try.

They put the letter back in the package and Goro flattened it and tucked it into the back of his pants until they had a time to burn it. After that, he opened the door to the building and they went inside.

Following the instructions in the letter, they did not close the door completely, and hid behind the door where they wouldn't be seen if someone were to look in through the crack. Around the corner of the building, Hazuki looked at them as they entered, having followed them here to continue surveillance over Misaki. After they closed the door behind them, Hazuki waited about 20 seconds before she went over toward the door.

When she noticed that the door had been left open a bit she didn't think much of it but stopped before going in. She put her ear close to the door to see if she could tell how close Goro and Misaki were to the door, but she didn't hear any footsteps at all. After another dozen seconds or so she slowly reached out to grab the door handle and open the door.

However, just before her fingers touched the doorknob, the door was suddenly flung wide open and Misaki and Goro pointed their guns out at her. "Don't move!" Goro ordered her, although his expression upon seeing her was surprise.

Hazuki took it as they had noticed someone following them, but did not think it was her, however his expression was simply because he could not believe the letter had been this accurate. Hazuki froze upon being discovered and realized there was no way out of this. She had her wooden sword she could energize with her power, but she doubted she would be able to react faster than they could pull the triggers of their guns. And anyways she did not want to hurt them in the first place.

"Mina Hazuki, you are being contained as a material witness and probably perpetrator of an unknown possible crime." Misaki told her, appearing much less surprised than Goro to find Hazuki. "Please place your weapon on the ground and put your hands behind your head."

Hazuki sighed and placed her wooden sword on the ground, then slowly stood up and put her hands behind her head as told. Misaki turned Hazuki around and began leading her over to the car they had come in while Goro hung back for a moment.

Goro took out the package and letter as well as a lighter. He burned the package and let the flames engulf it for a moment, and then tossed it on the metal floor of the building, closing the door behind him and walking over to the car as well.

Back at the warehouse, Irene took the small stack of money on the table and flipped through it for a moment. "I don't suppose there's anything else I need to do?" Irene asked, making sure there was nothing more Happy Ending needed her for.

"No, that is all I need from you for today. You may leave and await your next mission." December answered casually

"Fine," Irene said and took her pay and left the warehouse. "And I hope you didn't tell me not to stick around after delivering that package because there was something I wouldn't want to see. Because I shouldn't need to repeat that if I find out you've done anything I don't like, our contract together is going to expire immediately." She told Happy Ending, reaffirming her intentions to him just to make sure he understood, and then slammed the door shut behind her as she left.

"She's going to be like this the whole novel isn't she?" August asked, although he realized he probably wouldn't get an actual answer.

"Well it is her most important character quality after all." December answered, but not giving a definite yes or no just as August expected. "Well, all that's left for this chapter is the mission I gave Ms. Parker and Mr. Baxter. So if you'd like, you may leave for the day as well."

"Sounds good." August said and walked over to the door. "I'll be back here first thing in the morning, okay?"

"I'll see you then." December said as the door closed behind August.

It was 11:10 PM and Amara and Harvey were inside a dark room where Amara was flipping through a number of files looking for something while Harvey kept an eye on the door. The building was the CIA file storage, they had been sent here to steal files on a certain person, although the name they were given not ring any bells for the two of them.

Because of that, Amara was very confused as to why they needed to do this at all, but either way it was an order from their superior, so they had no choice but to do it. "S… S… S…" Amara muttered softly to herself as she went through the files, looking for the name she had been given.

"Hurry it up, they do make routine checks of this place you know." Harvey whispered to Amara.

"I know that, but there are a lot of files here; I can't just pick it out as easily as a magician pulls a rabbit out of hat." Amara told Harvey without taking her eyes away from the files. After another minute or two Amara finally picked out a file and read the name on it. "Alright, I found the file, now let's-" Amara began, but was cut off when the door was suddenly kicked in by a CIA agent , who pointed his gun into the room.

"Don't-" He began, but Harvey, who hadn't been seen because of his position right next to the door and the darkness of the room, punched the agent and knocked him to the ground.

"Shit, let's get out of here!" Amara shouted now that they had gotten caught.

Harvey ran out the door with Amara close behind, but just as she ran over the CIA agent she thought had been knocked unconscious, he grabbed her leg and noticed the file in her hand. Amara fell to the ground because he grabbed her leg and dropped the file.

"Get off me!" Amara yelled at the CIA agent and kicked his face to force him to let go.

She got up and ran to the file she dropped, but as she reached her hand down the CIA agent got his gun and shot it at the wall between her hand and the file. In a natural reaction to save her own life, as would any normal Contractor, Amara forsook the file and ran away. The CIA agent fired a few more bullet at her, but couldn't get a good shot from the ground, and the two of them got outside the building before anyone else in the building managed to see them.

"What happened?" Another CIA agent asked as he and two more came to where the gunshots were, their own gun drawn.

"Two thieves, a man and a woman. They tried to take a file, but I managed to get rid of them. They ran out the building, someone see if you can catch them." The first who was getting back to his feet told them, and then two of the agents ran out the door and tried to figure out which direction the thieves had gone.

The one that stayed behind picked up the file the two had tried to take, and then turned around as another person walked up to him. "Looks like that anonymous Intel was right after all. I can't believe it." He said and handed the file off to the person who just came in.

The person was Madam Oreille. Earlier that day, she had found an anonymous message left on her _private cell phone_. The call had given details of an attempt to steal a file and how to handle it. Naturally, this was very suspicious, but the fact the caller had sent the message to her own cell phone rather than contact the CIA hotline made it seem somehow urgent, like the caller knew if he had used regular methods to contact them, they never would have gotten to it in time.

Taking that possibility into account despite that the caller shouldn't have been able to get her cell phone number, Oreille decided to look into the subject. "Well, it looks like my decision was made in good faith. If I hadn't gone with my instincts those two would have made off with-" But Oreille cut herself off upon reading the name of the file the two thieves had attempted to take.

"Ma'am?" One of the CIA agents made sure everything was alright.

"I'm fine, but I will be taking this with me as evidence. If we don't manage to catch them, we might at least be able to get some fingerprints off this assuming they didn't use gloves." She said, and began walking out of the building with her two agents following behind.

Oreille looked at the file name once again, confirming what she already knew was true. The name of the file those two had tried to steal was: 'Shengshun, Li'.


	12. Problems or Solutions?

_Chapter 12: Problems or Solutions?_

Harvey and Amara had managed to escape the CIA agents last night and return to their house safely. But the situation had not sit well with them. Amara was currently pacing back and forth with a cell phone in her hand while Harvey lied down on the sofa. She knew Happy Ending would call to see how the job went at some point, and when he did she fully intended to scream his ear off for putting her through that.

"Covert mission; no using our powers? It's like the freak wanted us to fail." Amara muttered while she continued to pace.

The fact Happy Ending had restricted the use of their powers in the first place never sat right with Amara. The Syndicate was never such an organization to care about the means by which a job was done, just that it got done.

Happy Ending took over the Syndicate in order to get at BK-201, but both Amara and Harvey were starting to wonder if there was more than what he let on. Finally, the phone in Amara's hand began to ring, and she didn't waste a second answering.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" She screamed into the receiver, meaning to halfway burst Happy Ending's eardrum.

Little did she know her boss on the other end did not even have the phone up to his ear, but instead held it out in front of him knowing full well Amara would answer with this reaction.

Once her outburst was past, Happy Ending put the phone up to his ear and replied. "If you would relax yourself, Miss Parker, there is no need to shout. Everything went exactly according to plan."

After hearing this, Amara froze completely in place. Harvey looked at her while she was hunched over slightly and had an expression that showed the purest form of being dumbfounded.

"Amara?" Harvey questioned, sounding slightly concerned. Harvey focused on his partner's face as she began to develop a twitch in her left eye and a trembling upper-lip as she breathed in slowly and deeply. "Shit!" Harvey cursed and almost out of nowhere, suddenly jerked up from the sofa and used one hand to snatch the cell phone out of Amara's hand and clasped his other hand over her mouth to keep her from doing what he knew she was going to do. "Sorry, sir, what was that?" He asked Happy Ending in the correct tone one should give to their boss.

"I merely told Amara that she has nothing to be concerned with because everything went according to plan." Happy Ending repeated to Harvey. "The two of you were never supposed to retrieve the file in the first place; but if you had known that you wouldn't have given the performance needed to intrigue the CIA enough for them to do just what I need."

"And what exactly do you need the CIA to do? Just who is Li Shengshun?" Harvey questioned.

"It is an alias that BK-201 used when he had worked for the Syndicate. I needed the CIA to begin looking into him for an important event to take place."

"That sounds awfully complicated; how do you know that the CIA will do exactly what you want?"

"That is not something you need to be concerned with. For now your job is done though, so the two of you may relax until your next assignment comes."

"Is that all?" Harvey confirmed.

"That is all." Happy Ending replied and hung up.

Harvey sighed and put the cell in his pocket. He was still covering Amara's mouth and knew she would still end up screaming despite Happy Ending no longer being able to hear her; so in preparation, he stuck his free hand over his ear, and in the instant he took his other hand off of Amara's mouth, stuck it over his other ear and dove behind the couch.

At that exact moment, Amara released the rage she had been forced to hold in until now. "**FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!**" Amara cursed out at the world at the very loudest her voice box would possibly allow her to scream and continued the single syllable for as long as the air in her lungs made physically possible.

When she finally ran out of breath she began huffing and puffing with a very pissed off scowl. Harvey looked over the couch at her and uncovered his ears. "Y-you good?" He asked Amara nervously.

Without looking over at Harvey or removing the dark look in her eyes, Amara spoke in response. "I hate that guy so much…" She growled, and then shifted her eyes to look at Harvey. "I almost got shot because of that freak, and he says he never intended us to get the file in the first place?"

Harvey sighed and stood up. "If it's any consolation, he said the file was the Black Reaper's." He told Amara, who suddenly became interested, although at the same time still obviously pissed. "Li Shengshun was his alias from when he worked for the Syndicate. We didn't know that since we didn't join the Syndicate until 18 months ago. As to the mission failure itself, he said we couldn't know it was supposed to fail in order to give a 'proper performance' in order to make the CIA make the next move. Although how that works is lost on me."

"What kind of B.S. is that; Now he's controlling the CIA?" Amara questioned, although it appeared she had finally calmed down to some extent.

"Who knows." Harvey shrugged. "All we know is that his goal is the Black Reaper, but anything else is just our guess."

Amara plopped down on the couch. "Something to gain…" She muttered softly. "Just what do Contractors like us have to gain when we only think logically?"

"Well there are those 'irregular' Contractors that don't appear to only rely on logic to make their decisions." Harvey noted.

"So we're irregular?"

"I wouldn't exactly say your outburst was purely a 'logical' action."

"Hating and acting on that hate are two different things. I haven't done anything that would obviously bring me harm. I've noticed for a long time my emotions didn't disappear when I became a Contractor, I just stopped making decisions because of how I felt."

"Well maybe that's it; most Contractor's don't even show their emotions at all, but you show them freely without any regard to how another might take them. Of course even with that said the question of what we have to gain still stands."

Amara thought for a second, but then sighed and stood up. "Screw it, if I waste anymore time thinking about it I'll get a migraine; I'm going to bed." She told Harvey and then walked up the stairs to her room.

Back at the police station, Misaki and Goro stood on the outside of their interrogation room. Inside the room was Mina Hazuki, who they had apprehended thanks to a mysterious letter left for them to find. Misaki was certain the letter was sent by December, the man pulling all the strings for a 'novel' he was working on.

However, Hazuki's ability to energized anything she touched into a lethal weapon was a potential problem with her interrogation, Misaki didn't believe she would try anything, but since she was a Contractor after all, anything was possible.

Finally, Misaki entered the interrogation room and Hazuki looked over at her. Her eyes were emotionless, just like a Contractor's should be, with complete indifference about the situation she was in.

"Make sure to keep your hands on the table. And don't even think about using your Contractor powers." Misaki warned Hazuki.

"Don't worry, I have no intentions of escaping." Hazuki replied, although there was no reason she couldn't be lying.

"I believe you, it's just protocol, you know that." Misaki told her, then got strait to the point. "Where were you on the night of August 18th?" She asked.

Hazuki knew exactly what Misaki was getting at. August 18th was the night Happy Ending had called her and sent her to get Amara and Harvey who had been tied up in front of the police station. Happy Ending had told her the results of that day and sending Misaki on her trail was a necessary part of his story, this must have been the result he was talking about. And if everything else he had said held true, then she could follow her instincts during the interrogation and everything else would fall into place.

"Exactly where you suspect I was; in front of the police station." Hazuki answered.

"What were you doing there?" Misaki asked the follow up question. Actually, Misaki hadn't expected Hazuki to admit to being at the police station so easily. If she was alright with revealing this fact, she must have been confident nothing she did that night had been against the law.

"I was dealing with Contractors." Now Hazuki dropped into lies. Although technically that was only half a lie. She had certainly 'dealt' with Contractors Amara and Harvey, it just wasn't in the sense she was letting on.

"Contractors? I'm going to need more details." Misaki told Hazuki, giving her a very serious look.

"It has to do with Genma Shizume's killing of Youko 7 months ago." Hazuki began, choosing her words carefully. If her luck didn't hold, they might submit her to a polygraph asking her to repeat everything she has said to the letter. She was making sure that if she did have to do that, nothing she said would be caught as a lie.

Misaki was caught by surprise with this fact. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"I discovered that it was not Genma's independent decision to kill her. Whoever he had been working for in the CIA gave him that order. For what purpose I can't yet say, but that is precisely what I intend to find out when I figure out who it was."

"What did you intend to do when you found this person?" Misaki asked.

It was a fair enough question. Genma was a double-agent for the CIA, but that meant whoever he worked for is also part of the CIA, Hazuki wouldn't be able to simply attack this person, especially not without proof they were actually connected to Yokou's murder.

"Whoever it was is guilty of conspiracy for murder, right? I intend to get them to confess." Hazuki told them.

At this Misaki slammed her hands down on the table, Hazuki's answer didn't get to the part she wanted to know. "And then what!?" She shouted. "Your killing Genma Shizume is justified because of the circumstances, but unless you are given reason, you can't kill the one who ordered him to kill Yokou without breaking the law."

Misaki pointed all this out even though Hazuki knew it all very well. For a moment there was silence as Hazuki chose how to answer. "Revenge does not always mean killing." She said. "I will bring this person to justice when I find them."

Misaki calmed down with her response, although wasn't entirely convinced with that. She knew Hazuki well enough to know she wouldn't be completely satisfied until the person behind Yokou's death was dead himself. Also, because she knew that, if she had found this out from fighting Genma, it made sense why she disappeared, because it meant she would eventually commit a crime.

For now though, she got back to the original problem. "What happened to the Contractor's you were fighting that night?" She asked.

"The Contractors from that night got away. I don't think they had been involved with my target, but the circumstances required me to act." Hazuki answered.

"I understand, well then I'll be leaving now." Misaki told her and left the interrogation room to Goro.

"Well, what do you think?" Goro asked.

"I think we can trust her, at least for the most part." Misaki answered.

"So how do we handle this?"

"Well as far as we can tell, she hasn't committed a crime yet. But I'm afraid revenge will prove too tempting for her if we simply let her go and she keeps searching for this person." Misaki said, looking through the one-way glass at Hazuki. "Perhaps we can arrange for her reassignment into our division? If we do that we can keep an eye on her."

Given this option, Goro thought on it for a second. "It's possible, but she'll have to agree to coming back." He answered.

Hearing this, Misaki smiled. "Leave that to me then." She said, and then left to go handle the situation.

It was noon and Hei and the others were eating lunch. Since Irene had attack them a couple nights ago, nothing had happened to them. Hei was getting impatient waiting for this person that was pulling the strings to show himself, and he didn't even know what his goal was in all of this.

And the only thing he had to guess by was what Hazuki had told him in China. _"The events of six months ago are not over. Izanami and Izanagi have yet to fulfill their prophecy."_ From this, Hei could infer the goal of the man behind all this could lie in making them meet to finish what was started. But Izanami was…

Hei glanced over at Yin who was calmly eating her soup. Izanami had been a part of Yin that had steadily gained control over her body in order to kill Contractors. The prophecy of Izanami and Izanagi stated that a great tragedy would befall the world when they met. At the Gate 7 months ago, Hei had attempted to end her. If the prophecy was unfulfilled, did that mean that there was a piece of Izanami left inside Yin that would grow until it overtook her again? Hei was worried if that might truly be the case. At one time, he had stated that he didn't want to lose anymore friends, but if Izanami still existed inside of Yin after that, it may be that it was actually impossible to get rid of her completely. And if Izanami at one point became too powerful, the only option left would be what Hei wanted to avoid the most.

Suddenly, Hei's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Everyone stopped for a moment, but considering the fact whoever it was was knocking meant it was safe to assume they hadn't been sent by the Syndicate. "Ignore it, they'll go away." Mao said, but the person at the door then knocked a second time.

They were probably just making sure if anyone was inside or if they just didn't hear the first knock, so Hei and the others continued to ignore it. But when the third knock came, the person pounded on the door as if to tell them they knew they were there and to open up already. Because of this, they all became suspicious and took out one of his knives.

"Stay put, I'll get rid of them." Hei told the others and stood up to walk to the door.

At the door Hei hid his knife behind his back and opened up the door slowly until he could look through with one eye. But when he did, he suddenly froze in shock at who it was.

"Hi BK-201," The person on the other end of the door was Madam Oreille, a CIA agent that he once worked for, standing there with a natural grin and holding a briefcase in one hand. "Mind if I come in?" She asked Hei in a nonchalant tone, as if she were just here visiting a friend.

"What are you doing here?" Hei asked, tightening the grip on his knife behind his back. He didn't think Oreille would attack him or anything, but if law enforcement people knew he was here, it spelt trouble for him.

"I'm here to ask for your help. May I come in?" Oreille asked again, this time putting an air of importance in her voice.

Hei thought about it for a second while giving the CIA woman a cold look. He wasn't sure what she wanted, but knowing her, it probably was important. Thinking that, Hei opened up the door and let her in.

Hei walked back into the dining room first and the others looked up at him. "Well, are they gone?" Mao asked.

"We may have a bit of a problem." He replied, which confused Mao until Oreille walked out from behind him.

"Oh, you're here too, Ricardo?" Oreille asked, recognizing him immediately.

Upon seeing Oreille, Mao straightened out in surprise. "W-w-w-w-w-what are you doing here!?" He stuttered, not expecting this at all.

Ignoring him for the moment, Oreille looked at July and Suou. "July, Suou, nice to see you two again after all this time." She told them, although it seemed as though she were lying for some reason.

"Enough formalities; why are you here?" Hei urged Oreille to get to her reason for coming.

Madam Oreille sighed and turned to face Hei. "Can we discuss this in private?" She asked.

Hei nodded and led her upstairs and closed the door behind them. "Now spill it." Hei commanded, obviously not happy with this surprise visit.

"Last night, two people broke into a CIA building and attempted to steal a file we had. And before you go off asking why that has anything to do with you, I'll tell you it has everything to do with you because the file they attempted to steal was your file."

When Oreille told him this, Hei gave a look of mild surprise. "Who were they?"

"Not so fast, BK-201." Oreille said, holding out one finger at him. "This information is technically classified, I shouldn't have even told you this much already. So before we get any further, I told you I came here to ask for your help; If you want to know more, I need you to agree to work for the CIA again." She told him, getting down to the 'condition' that always seemed to follow the giving of information.

"Why should I?" Hei asked.

"Whoever these people are they're after you. Is it not enough reason to have an idea of who is trying to find you?" Oreille questioned with a stern look, needing him to agree to this. "Also, I'll have you know that Chief Misaki Kirihara already knows you're here as well. If what I've told you so far isn't enough, maybe I can keep your situation with the law from becoming a problem. The choice is yours, but you should realize which decision is more beneficial to you."

Hei considered this for a moment. So far they had to stay out of sight to keep the police from finding them, because he knew they would find him if he became to integrated into society again. "Fine, I'll work for you, what do you have?" Hei agreed.

It was the best decision for his situation, it would allow him a little more freedom so he, Yin, and the rest wouldn't be as restricted in their movements. They would still have to be careful, but it was better than nothing.

Satisfied, Oreille bent down and opened the briefcase she brought with her. "Luckily, the one who handled the file didn't wear any gloves, so we got her prints and came up with a name." As she told Hei this, she took a file out of the briefcase and handed it to Hei to look over. "Her name is Amara Baxter." She said, although as Hei opened up the file he stopped and looked at the photograph attached. The photograph was of the woman who had been originally sent by the Syndicate to attack him after the hit for his head went out. "Her maiden name is Parker, and she was married to a man named Harvey Baxter. The two of them lived in North America until a few years ago when they immigrated to Japan. However…"

"However?"

"As of 18 months ago, the two of them seem to have disappeared completely without a trace. All money was drawn from their bank accounts and they stopped showing up to their jobs without even a notice of resignation to their bosses. It is unknown what happened to them, and had been a big deal when it first happened, but since has become a cold case and they were never found. The only other thing about them I could dig up was that they had an adopted daughter, but she died before they moved here, so I couldn't get any information on her."

"Do you have the file on the husband?" Hei asked. Since Amara was the woman that attacked him, If both of them had vanished at that time, then it was possible the man that was with her that time was also her husband.

"Yes, I brought his file as well. I'm sure you're thinking the same thing I am, he might be the second person that was with this Amara who was trying to steal your file." Oreille said and took out a second file and handed it to Hei.

When Hei opened the file he looked at the photo and saw that his suspicions were correct. The picture of Harvey Baxter was that of the man who had attacked him that night. "The second person was him." Hei told Oreille with confidence.

"What, how do you know?"

"I've already met these two. I didn't know their names at the time, but they attacked me. They're members of the Syndicate."

At the mention of the Syndicate, Oreille froze. "The Syndicate? But..."

"That organization apparently wasn't destroyed, but were simply forced to go even further underground than they were before. To those living everyday life, the organization appeared to disappear."

"Really, so that thorn in our side is actually still around?" Oreille asked rhetorically with a sigh. She had wanted to believe the Syndicate was really gone, but it wasn't surprising they still remained, even if it was a smaller scale. "So, what happened to them after that?"

"I defeated them and then tied them up in front of the police department after getting them to give me information on a person who put a hit on me. They said he called himself 'Happy Ending'. Other than that no one in the Syndicate had ever met the man, and he had only contacted them by phone." Hei told Oreille this much, but left out the part about the mastermind who was setting everything up and got him to come back to Japan. Thinking about that now, Hei wondered if the mastermind had anything to do with Oreille's finding him like this. "Although, if they snuck into the CIA building just yesterday, they must have escaped from the police."

"I see, well then let's get down to business. I want you to hunt down these two and bring them in for a questioning."

"So you'll want everyone else's help as well." Hei made sure, since it would be difficult to locate people from an organization as well-hidden as theirs without using Dolls.

"How I'm a bit reluctant, I do want to ask for their help as well." Madam Oreille answered. "Of course they'll have a choice whether or not to cooperate, and I don't really expect Suou would be willing to." Oreille told Hei, but when she did the door was suddenly thrown open and Suou rushed in, evidently having eavesdropped on everything they had said.

"No!" Suou shouted to deny what Madam Oreille had assumed. "If someone if trying to find Hei, I want to help too!" She blurted out without really thinking. "Even if it's only a little bit, I want to help Hei if I can."

"Suou…" Oreille muttered, half surprised by Suou's passion in her words.

"Please," Suou begged.

After another second, Oreille sighed and smiled. "Well, it's your decision. If you want to offer your assistance, I'll take it."

Suou gave a large sigh of relief and looked at Hei, who was looking at with an expression that didn't let on how he felt about this. Nevertheless Suou was glad that she would be able to help him in this way.

Madam Oreille stood up and lead Hei and Suou downstairs to discuss the matter with Mao, Yin and July. The three of them agreed easily enough, and then Oreille gave her contact number to Hei for when they found Amara and Harvey to contact her using a payphone.

With that, Oreille took her leave after thanking them all for their help. Once she was gone, Hei and the other returned to their meal and waited for nightfall before they would begin their search for the two Syndicate members.


	13. The Chase

_Chapter 13: The Chase_

It was 11:45 at night. Hei had just filled a large saucer with water and set it down on the floor in front of Yin. "Ready?" Hei asked Yin and July.

July stood next to Yin and held a piece of shattered glass in his hand as Yin sat in a chair and set her feet into the water in front of her. As she did, the two of them turned to Hei and nodded. Once they had, the pair of Dolls began using their respective mediums to send out their Surveillance Specters to begin the search for Amara and Harvey Baxter.

Suou stood near the front door and waited along with Mao, who was sitting on her shoulder. Suou took a deep breath and watched Hei as he prepared himself. She got the feeling he was unhappy about her decision to come along and help, even if she didn't have any basis behind that assumption, it was the kind of feeling she was getting as she watched him.

Hei pulled out his bullet-proof black cloak and mask. He hadn't used them up until now, but that was only because so far he had been attacked without a chance to get them on. But this time he was going to be striking them, so he would go prepared.

Suou of course was under their promise not to shot her gun, but she knew she would still be able to help in some way. Once Hei had his cloak, mask, and the rest of his equipment for fighting ready, he pulled out a communication earpiece he had received from Oreille and put it in his ear.

Tapping it a couple of times, he spoke. "Can everyone hear me?" He asked, and everyone else heard Hei's voice ring distinctly in the ear they each had their own earpiece in.

"We can hear you." Mao answered.

"Alright then, let's get moving." Hei told the others and went to the front door and opened it, leaving the house along with Suou and Mao.

Sneaking through the night of Tokyo, they waited for either Yin or July to find their targets. It wasn't too long until they heard July's voice echo from their earpieces. "I found them." He informed them. "North-Northeast; about 6 km away."

"Got it," Hei replied, and then turned to Suou and Mao. "Let's go." He told them and they began to pick up their pace.

Mao looked around the sky until he spotted a crow spotted on a lamppost. "Hei," He got Hei's attention to the bird just before using his Contractor ability to transfer his spirit over from Suou's momonga to the crow. Once he had done so, Suou's pet reverted back to acting like a normal animal, and Mao flew as a crow down to them, landing on Hei's shoulder. "I'll scout ahead like this; just get my transmitter for me."

Hei reached over and grabbed Suou's momonga and then carefully took the transmitter out of its ear and then stuck it onto the crow Mao now inhabited. Once he had, Mao took flight toward the specified area where their targets were.

Meanwhile, Amara and Harvey had not seen July's Surveillance Specter because they had each already gone to sleep. Amara was upstairs in the bedroom while Harvey was resting on the couch downstairs. Mao arrived and landed on the window July's Specter was still watching Harvey from. "They're asleep? Maybe this will be easy then." He noted, informing Hei and Suou of the situation.

Mao noticed that the window was actually cracked open, and then used his talons and beak to open it up so he could get inside, afterward perching himself on the ceiling fan, looking down and Harvey. It wouldn't be too long until Hei and Suou arrived, and if they were still asleep when they did, this would end up being a piece of cake.

But suddenly, Mao heard a ring tone coming from Harvey's pocket, and he began to stir due to the noise. "Crap," He muttered.

"What's wrong?" Suou asked over the transmitter.

"The man's phone rang, it's waking him up." Mao informed them.

"Since they fell of the map when they joined the Syndicate, that could be their boss calling. Intercept the phone before he answers." Hei told Mao, although doing that without blowing his cover would be the difficult part. "July, drop your Surveillance Specter so he doesn't catch onto us." He added, and Mao saw the ghostly blue mark on the window vanish.

Harvey moaned as he opened his eyes. Still drowsy, it took him a moment to register the noise that woke him up was his phone, meaning Happy Ending was calling them. Hurriedly, he sat up on the couch and took the phone from his pocket. Mao waited just a second and then soared down at Harvey's hand.

Before Harvey could answer the phone, Mao used his talons to scratch at Harvey's hand, which surprised him both because he didn't know a crow had gotten in and because of the pain it caused his hand. "What the-" He shouted and dropped his phone to the ground. Mao immediately grabbed the phone with his talons and flew toward the open window. "Crap; stupid bird!" Harvey shouted and held out his hand.

Mao glanced back to notice that Harvey was using his Contractor ability and tried to speed up to get away in time. But he wasn't fast enough and Harvey shot an invisible blast at him without knowing he was a Contractor.

Hit with the blast, Mao fell to the ground and dropped the phone that was still ringing. He scrambled to get back up, but before he could Harvey rushed over and got the phone, and then grabbed Mao, who he thought was just a crow going after a shiny object it saw, and threw him out the window, closing it before he could even catch his balance in the air.

"Drat! I lost the phone and now I'm locked out; better hurry it up over here." Mao told the others.

"Try to keep them distracted if they leave the house, we'll get there as fast as we can." Hei replied.

Inside the house, Harvey answered the phone once he had gotten rid of the crow. "Hello?" He greeted the person on the other end of the phone and walked over to a light switch, turning on the ceiling fan.

"Sorry for disturbing you, Mister Baxter." Happy Ending's polite voice spoke from the other end of the phone.

Harvey quickly lowered his sunglasses and looked at the ceiling fan's light for just a split second for his Obeisance before putting his glasses back over his eyes. "I apologize if I sound rude in asking, but could you please get to the point sir? I'm a bit irritable right now because of a crow." Harvey requested.

"That crow was actually a Contractor." Happy Ending replied, making Harvey jump.

"It what?"

"One of BK-201's allies no less; he is on his way to apprehend you and Ms. Parker."

"Apprehend us? You make it sound like he's a cop."

"He is now working with the CIA." Happy Ending informed Harvey, and then paused to allow that fact to sink in.

Harvey had frozen upon hearing this fact; BK-201 was working with the _CIA_. Happy Ending has sent Amara and him on a mission they weren't meant to succeed in where they were told to steal the file of 'Li Shengshun', an alias once used by BK-201, to entice the CIA into to making a certain move. If this was the move that Happy Ending has intended the CIA to take, then that meant Happy Ending had intended for BK-201 to attack him and Amara now.

"Are you serious?" Harvey questioned, his voice low and quivering as he held back rare frustration. "You wanted this to happen, didn't you? You set us up!"

"Now, now, Mister Baxter, there's no need to jump to conclusions." Happy Ending told Harvey in a calm, almost comical voice that would have certainly caused Amara to scream her head off. "If I had wanted him to succeed in capturing you, I wouldn't have called to warn you.

Confused but calming down from knowing this, Harvey took a deep breath before asking his next question. "So what am I supposed to do?"  
"Wake up Miss Parker and give her the situation. Once you have, figure out how to escape from BK-201, but do not attempt to fight him head on." Happy Ending told him.

Harvey gave an exasperated sigh. The order not to fight BK-201 head on was the second order they had been given to them that was unlike how the Syndicate usually worked. Happy Ending's objective was BK-201, so under normal circumstances they would have confronted him and tried to capture him like they had once already.

But no matter what Harvey thought, Happy Ending's orders were still orders. "Understood." He said and hung up, and then put the phone back in his pocket and then rushed upstairs to get Amara.

Hei and Suou began hastening their approach to their targets' house. If they didn't get there fast enough, Amara and Harvey would be able to escape. Mao would do what he could to slow them down, but his actions in the body of a crow were only a bit less restrictive than he had been in Suou's momonga; he would not be able to keep them busy for very long. Their destination was only a block or two away now, but that was still plenty of time for two people on the run to leave a house and get out of view.

Harvey got Amara up and told her about what was happening and Happy Ending's orders while she hurriedly got herself dressed. Once Amara was ready the two hurried downstairs and made their way around to the back door which led out to an alley between two rows of houses. Their plan, since they weren't allowed to attack the Black Reaper head on was to get to the supermarket a few blocks away and get themselves to a public place where he wouldn't be able to attack them freely. And if they didn't lose him by then, they would just need to figure out an escape route he wouldn't be able to follow them into.

"Make sure to watch out for the crow; it's a Contractor with BK-201."

"Got it," Amara replied, and took out a few bits of metal from one of the pouches on her waist, ready to shoot the crow full of holes when she saw it.

Mao was circling the house in the air, waiting to see if the two would leave the house. Just then, he spotted them coming out of the back door. "They're on the move, I'll hold them off for as long as I can but I don't know how long that is." Mao informed Hei and Suou.

"Got it, we're almost there." Hei replied.

Mao flew down toward the Syndicate Contractors and aimed his flight pattern at Harvey's sunglasses. From his Obeisance and how he reacted to the light when shined in his eyes, it was likely he had a severe form of Photophobia. If his eyes were that sensitive to light, then he wouldn't be able to do anything without them on.

Sneaking up from behind Harvey, Mao flew straight past the left side of Harvey's head and used one of his feet to snatch his sunglasses by their temple and tore them right off of Harvey's face. Because he had caught them completely off guard, Harvey flailed his arms in surprise and shut his eyes tight to avoid seeing any light, as Mao had anticipated.

"Crap, my glasses!" Harvey shouted and tried to catch Mao, but couldn't find him with his eyes closed.

But Amara immediately took the metal bits in her hand and used her Contractor power on them, energizing them so that they would be able to even cut through steel doors, much more so a flesh and bone bird. "Drop the shades, Contractor!" Amara shouted.

"What the-" Mao stuttered, shocked to hear they knew who he was.

However, Amara did not wait for Mao to actually do anything and simple chucked the metal bits in his direction. Mao reacted and flapped his wings furiously to get himself higher in the air to avoid the make-shift bullets being hurled at him. But because of the unnatural speed the energized pieces of metal had, he was unable to get out of the way fast enough, and two of the bits cut into a wing and the side of his head, but nothing serious.

Mao was forced to let go of Harvey's sunglasses, but perhaps luckily for him, the bridge of the glasses was snapped by another of Amara's bullets, breaking them in two and making them mostly unusable. Amara stuttered because of her blunder, and in haste thought of a new course of action. "Crap, forget the bird! Just run!" She told Harvey and grabbed his hand, beginning to drag him along as she ran away.

"Wow, hey! What about my glasses?" Harvey asked as he ran to keep up with his hand being pulled.

"Just shut up and keep your eyes closed! We'll snatch a pair going through the supermarket." Amara answered irritably.

"They're making a break for it; hurry!" Mao told Hei and Suou.

Mao flew back up into the air and looked around to see that Hei and Suou were actually just a street away now, since they were that close, Mao turned around and flew over to them. While maintaining a run, Hei took the earpiece from the bird Mao possessed, and then Mao transferred his soul back to Suou's pet, and afterward the crow became just a crow and flew off.

"We've really got to hurry; they're making a run for the supermarket. If they get to a public place we loss." Mao said. "Luckily the Harvey guy doesn't have his sunglasses so the woman is dragging him along, but that will still slow them down some."

Without replying, Hei and Suou continued running toward Harvey and Amara. Finally, the two Contractors came into view just as they were beginning to turn a corner. Amara dragged and jostled Harvey as she dragged him around the corner out of sight, and so Hei and Suou quickened their pace to the max.

They turned the corner and saw the two still running, with Harvey dragging them behind from being dragged along. Hei wasn't going to waste time with words and pulled out one of his knives. He aimed and threw the knife at Harvey's shoulder, since it would cause the most delay in their running away if he fell down.

Amara however knew that they must have already been close and so was looking back every few seconds. So this time when she looked back she saw the knife coming toward Harvey and reacted. "Get down!" She ordered Harvey and yanked his arm downward to force his head forward, which allowed Hei's knife to go straight over him.

However, the suddenness of the pull on his arm made Harvey stumble and fall to the ground, and Amara lost her grip on his hand. She stopped and quickly picked him straight up off the ground and began carrying him instead of dragging him. She was going to turn and run again when she saw another knife coming straight at her.

"Shi-" She cursed under her breath and stumbled back onto her back, the knife going past them again. This time Harvey was first to get to his feet and pulled Amara up by her hand, and began somehow leading the way without opening his eyes. "Hey, how do you-"

"It doesn't matter right now, just keep running!" Harvey interrupted Amara and he let go of her hand so the two of them could both run at their full speed.

Amara looked back again and saw that the Black Reaper had closed the distance between them some due to their fumbling around. He was now spinning his metal cord around, preparing to get it around one of them to capture them.

Hei threw the cord at Amara, but suddenly Harvey grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side behind a corner and inadvertently helped her avoid capture. "We're going to have to crisscross as many street corners as possible to keep his attacks off of us." Harvey said, easily inferring what was happening without seeing it all as well as somehow managing to navigate the alleyways and streets without looking at them.

Suou turned the corner and continued running toward Harvey and Amara, but Hei however continued down a different street to try and cut the pair off by circling around. "They turned left!" Suou told Hei through the communication earpiece as she saw Amara and Harvey twist around another corner.

"Only the girl was behind us just now, the Black Reaper's probably trying to cage us in." Amara warned Harvey so he could calculate that into his blind navigation out of harm's way.

"Alright, take the next two rights and then we'll make a right between two houses and get out onto the road facing the supermarket with another right and left." Harvey planned out their escape route.

Suou turned the corner just as the two of them made the first right. "They went right," She informed Hei and continued to follow them.

Meanwhile Hei was running up the next street down. He looked over to the right to try and catch sight of Amara and Harvey. Just then, he saw them as they made another turn to their right. But instead of following them there he continued forward. Then Suou's voice came through his earpiece. "I lost them!" She said regrettably.

"I just saw them, they turned right." Hei quickly told Suou as he made a right on the next street down.

Suou made it to the turn and saw Amara and Harvey just before they slipped between two houses. "They're going left." She told Hei.

"They're going to make it to the street in front of the supermarket! We'll lose them." Mao grunted.

"Go straight and meet back up with me." Hei told Suou, who did as was told.

At the next available turn, Hei came running from the left and she turned to continue running beside him. They could see Amara and Harvey again, but due to their movements, they were further away than they were earlier. They were running directly away from them, so they had already made their last turn right; so if they made the next turn they would have gotten away.

Hei pulled out another knife and threw it at them. Amara saw it and warned Harvey. Then Harvey pulled them both to the right side until it past by them, and right after, sprinted left onto the next street. Hei and Suou continued running until they got to the turn, but when they looked they could only see the two Contractors getting through the doors of the supermarket.

"Damn," Mao cursed their misfortune.

They couldn't very well chase them through a public place, especially not with Hei wearing his cloak and mask. "We still might catch them," Hei said. "They'll probably try to leave through another exit. July, Yin; monitor the exits using the windows and any water bottles in coolers near the exits and tell us if they head toward one."

Hei gave the order over the communication earpiece, and The two Doll's received it loud and clear. "Alright, Hei." Yin said.

"On it," July answered as well.

Now inside the supermarket, Amara and Harvey stopped to catch their breath. Amara noticed one of the employees start to head their way, probably wondering if something was wrong with the way they were hyperventilating. Quickly, she waved her hand to signal that nothing was wrong and to leave them alone, and he obliged her wish.

"So how did you do that just now?" Amara asked Harvey, curious about his blind navigation.

"You kidding…" Harvey breathed out while still keeping his eyes closed. "If I lose my sunglasses I get a huge disadvantage. I've trained myself to be able to memorize the layout of any place I ever step foot in at a glance. I could walk through the whole of Tokyo and never hit a wall. The only reason you had to drag me around at the start was because it was so sudden I needed a second to recall everything."

"Sheesh, I've been around you for how many years and I never knew that?" Amara exclaimed her surprise.

"It's never come up." Harvey said simply.

"Fine, let's just find you some new shades and get out of here." Amara said, straightening up and wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

But just then their phone rang in Harvey's pocket. Hearing it, Harvey pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Amara. "Yeah, what is it now? You want us to try and diffuse a bomb?" She muttered angrily to Happy Ending, emphasizing how he seems to be putting them in a lot of life threatening situations.

"No, no, not at all." Happy Ending replied with a bit of a laugh, apparently finding Amara's sarcastic joke funny. "I'm calling to help you out. First things first, get out of view of the windows." He told Amara.

Amara must have picked up what he was insinuating, because for once she did not ask why he wanted them to do this and grabbed Harvey's arm, leading him into one of the aisles to get out of view of windows. She remembered that one of the Doll's with the Black Reaper used glass as a medium, so Happy Ending must have meant that Doll was trying to find them using the windows in the market.

"Well if he's watching the exits, how do we get out of here without being chased again?" Amara asked Happy Ending in a hushed tone.

"Two Dolls cannot watch three exits at once. I'll give you directions, so follow them and you'll get out just fine." Happy Ending replied, and Amara realized that apparently the second Doll that was with the Black Reaper, the silver haired girl, must also be using something in the store as medium to watch them.

"How are you going to give us directions, are you watching the supermarket from somewhere to see where the Doll's Surveillance Specter is?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Essentially; what the hell does that mean?" Amara questioned Happy Ending's choice of words.

"You don't need to concern yourself with that." Happy Ending told her.

"You keep throwing that excuse around like confetti at a parade. Eventually, I'm going to get pissed off and demand some straight answers you know." Amara warned her boss.

"I know," Happy Ending answered surprisingly.

"But the problem now is that we need to get Harvey a new set of sunglasses to replace the one's I broke a minute ago. But if one of the Dolls watching for us uses glass as a medium, having them could hurt us more than help us." Amara told Happy Ending, as there was a chance Harvey might accidentally open his eyes and burn them from his Photophobia if he didn't get them, but a chance the Doll would locate their position if he did, and then he still wouldn't be able to just throw them away since it would defeat the purpose of getting them in the first place..

To Amara's last statements though, Harvey reacted, "Wait, you broke my- never mind. If it's the glass you're worried about, this store has some plastic sunglasses a few aisles away."

"And once you do that, head toward the north exit, but stay in the last aisle before it to keep from being seen by BK-201's Dolls. I'll give you the rest of the instructions on how to get out unseen from there." Happy Ending told Amara and then hung up until that happened.

Amara put the phone in her pocket. "Alright, let's go." She told Harvey, and they began walking through the store.

Harvey got them over to where the plastic sunglasses were. They were basically the sunglasses people bought just to have or for their children, in which case buying plastic would be much less expensive. However, for someone who needed sunglasses for something like Harvey's Photophobia, glass sunglasses were simply more durable and ergo a better choice to get. But for the moment they needed to avoid having glass anywhere on them to avoid detection.

Amara took a pair and put them on Harvey, who then opened his eyes and checked the visibility. "Alright, so where to?" He asked Amara.

"He said head to the north exit and wait in the last aisle. He'll call then." Amara told Harvey, and then the two of them made their way to the specified place.

Once they got behind the last aisle before the exit, the phone began to ring and Amara answered it. "Alright so what now?" She asked him.

"So far, the two Dolls have been changing which exit their watching every few seconds, with each one watching a different exit. This includes the doors you both came in through in case you attempted to trick them and fled backward." Happy Ending explained. "But because of this, no exit has been unobserved for longer than 5 seconds at a time."

"Five seconds?" Amara almost shouted. "There's no way we can make it through the doors in that time."

"That would be your pursuers intentions." Happy Ending remarked. "So I have arranged for some help getting you out unseen. I have sent another person working under me to provide assistance."

"What kind of assistance?"

"Just watch for it; you'll know what kind when you see it. When it happens, immediately rush out the doors and continue running north until my other subordinate catches up to you."

"Roger," Amara said in a slightly annoyed tone and hung up before relaying everything to Harvey.

The 'other subordinate' that December was speaking of was in fact already on the roof of the supermarket looking at the watch on her left wrist. The woman was Irene, who Amara and Harvey only knew as a person that had a connection to the Black Reaper. However they did not know that she had since becomes a Contractor recruited to work for Happy Ending, so that would be news to them.

In her right hand, she held a Milkor MGL Grenade Launcher. As she watched her watch tick away the seconds, she thought back to her orders.

_"I have need of your assistance once more Miss Baltar." _Happy Ending had told her after she arrived at the warehouse in response to an earlier call. _"I need you to go help another pair of Contractors that work for me out of a jam at the supermarket. At 12:06 precisely, I need you to create a smoke screen at all four exits so that they can get away without BK-201 noticing using this."_ At that point, happy Ending had handed Irene the Grenade Launcher.

She was of course unhappy with the mission because it involved working against Li, but Happy Ending had assured her that no harm would come of him or anyone else by doing this. Naturally it did very little to alleviate her distaste for the mission, but she did so anyways.

Just then, her watch clicked to read 12:06. At that second, Irene raised the Grenade Launcher to the air, activated her Contractor ability, and shot off the first smoke grenade. After that she turned her body and then subsequently fired off three more smoke grenades toward the other exits.

With her Contractor power, Irene was able to calculate exactly where and how to shoot the grenades so they would land perfectly in front of each door even thought she was in the very center of the roof, making it impossible to actually see any of them.

Her next order was to go toward the north exit and follow the two people that came running out for 7 minutes before stopping them and giving them a message. Irene sometimes found Happy Ending's orders to be oddly detailed and precise. 7 minutes seemed like a very odd number, where 5 minutes or 10 minutes might have sounded more natural. And he question of following them a specific amount of time rather than a set distance didn't make much sense to Irene either, but nonetheless she went through with the orders to the letter so she could keep an accurate watch on the events that would unfold though Happy Ending's story.

Inside the supermarket, Amara and Harvey saw what they were supposed to wait for immediately. For almost no apparent reason, they heard random screams of fright and surprise, which prompted them to look around the corner to find out what had happened. When they looked, they saw the doorway mysteriously clouded with smoke. The two of them did not question how, why or who; and simply bolted for the door.

Even if they were using Surveillance Specters to watch the scene, the Dolls' vision would be impaired by the smoke and they would not be able to tell if the two of them left through the doors even if they were watching. Thanks to that, when the two Contractors ran through the smoke and past anyone unlucky enough to have been caught in the direct cloud of smoke, they found the door and rushed through it without being caught by a Surveillance Specter, and on the way through, Amara smashed her fist into the glass-paned door to fulfill her Obeisance for shooting metal pieces at the Contractor crow earlier.

Then, as ordered, the two of them began running north and did not stop. Up on the roof, Irene saw them coming out and then began to follow by leaping from the building down to a nearby house rooftop and tuck and rolled to avoid taking too much damage from the impact, which was made easy to do with her Contractor ability.

At the time the smoke grenades went off, Yin warned Hei, Suou, and Mao. "Hei, smoke bombs have gone off at all the entrances." Yin said.

"What?" Hei questioned and saw for himself the entrance they were near was covered in smoke.

"We can't tell which exit their going out of now." July added.

"What, how did they pull that off?" Suou wondered.

"Amara and Harvey work for the Syndicate, they could have sent any number of agents to cover their trail." Hei noted.

"So what do we do now?" Mao asked. "We'll never be able to find them after this without any idea which direction they went."

"There's nothing else to do, we won't be catching them tonight. Let's head back and I'll report to Oreille in the morning. We'll go from there." Hei told everyone, and regrettably retreated.

As Irene followed the two Contractors as ordered, she checked her watch until the specified 7 minutes had past, and then used her ability to speed herself up and cut over in front of the two Contractors that also worked for Happy Ending. "Alright, you can stop running now." She told them.

Stopping at the sight of Irene, they then took a second to look at Irene before realizing they had seen her before. "Wait a second!" Amara shouted when she realized it. "You're that chick who used to be friends with the Black Reaper!"

Being told something like that, Irene's eyes went wide and she responded quickly and angrily. "How do you know about that!?"

"We're the ones that stuck the note on your door telling you to go to the supermarket where you saw-" But Amara suddenly stopped herself and clasped a hand over her mouth, not sure if that was something she should be saying to this woman.

"You did that?" Irene confirmed, but suddenly clicked her tongue as it made sense. These two were people who worked for Happy Ending, who had been the person who had the note sent in the first place. Given how he always seemed to do things, it was only natural he had used grunts to deliver the note to her apartment as well. "Well, long story short, I'm working for Happy Ending too now, so I guess we're allies in a sense." She told Amara and Harvey quickly, although she was not sure if she should call them 'allies' since they were gunning at Li as well.

Amara was about to make another shocked comment from learning about this, but Harvey stepped in front of her to keep the conversation from dragging on. "So what happens now?"

"Happy Ending has set up a new safe house for the two of you; he says to head there and you're both safe for the night. Here's the address, once your there just await your orders." Irene explained all of this as she handed Harvey a piece of paper with the address of their safe house on it.

"And what are you going to do?" Harvey questioned.

"That's none of your business," Irene told Harvey. "That's all I was ordered to do, so I'll be leaving now. If we meet again it will because I was ordered to again." She informed them, and then began running off.

"Now how the hell did that happen? When did she even become a Contractor?" Amara questioned, although Harvey wouldn't have been able to give an answer, so he just shrugged.

"You can try asking Happy Ending, but he'll probably just tell you not to concern yourself with it again." Harvey suggested.

Amara clicked her tongue at this. "Whatever, let's just get to the safe house now." She said, checking the address on the paper before the two left to go to it.

* * *

**AN: This is likely going to be the last regular weekly update of this story. It will continue rest assured, but it will take me longer periods of irregular time to get them each up. Please be patient and you will be rewarded and thank you for your reviews.**


	14. Q&A

**AN: A December 31 update, Happy New Years!  
**

* * *

_Chapter 14: Q&A_

It was 10:14 AM as Misaki Kirihara pulled her police car up to the parking lot of the supermarket. With her in the car were two people, Goro Kobayashi and Mina Hazuki.

After Hazuki's interrogation, Misaki went through a number of processes and formalities with Hazuki's claim of Genma having been ordered to kill Yoko by his unknown superior in the CIA. It was quite a bit of work due to the claim being from a defected police force Contractor, but Misaki was eventually able to make a convincing argument to suggest that there was a probability of it being true.

The case was then handed to Internal Affairs for review and investigation. Misaki explained all of this to Hazuki and told her that they would be informed of the findings of the investigation promptly. At first this did not seem to satisfy Hazuki, which Misaki could only speculate that meant she really had defected from the police force to find and kill the perpetrator herself; but after some more convincing, Hazuki agreed to rejoin Section 3.

Now being called to the supermarket, the three officers found that the entire store had been closed off as a crime scene. As a major department store, closing off the entire area was very disruptive, and as such called up many frustrated or concerned citizens who were surrounding the enclosed area outside the crime scene tape.

Misaki, Goro, and Hazuki walked through the crowd of people and entered the taped off area, approaching another pair of metro police officers who had originally been investigating the incident themselves. "Misaki Kirihara, Section 3 agent; what is the situation?" She asked them holding up her badge for clearance.

"Yes, ma'am." One officer replied. "At just past midnight last night, smoke bombs were detonated at all four major exits. One canister of a Milkor MGL Grenade Launcher was discovered at each doorway, but the perpetrator has yet to be discovered."

"Did anything follow the smoke bombs?" Goro inquired.

"No sir, after the detonation of the smoke bombs, the citizen's in the vicinity of the smoke were sent into panic. We are currently still questioning the customers and employees inside who were here last night."

"You're questioning all of them?" Misaki questioned, and looked through the double glass window doors of the supermarket, and sure enough saw more officers talking with a number of worried people inside.

"Unfortunately, due to the scale of the incident, we are unable to rule out any possibility. We have sent those we have finished questioning home after taking their names and addresses, but so far the investigation has turned up little."

"So what are we doing here?" Hazuki wondered. "Section 3 is supposed to investigate crimes committed by Contractors; so you must at least have some kind of evidence to suggest one was involved, or we wouldn't have been called in for this case."

Indeed, everything Hazuki said was true. So even if the investigation had turned up little, there must have been something that had happened or was left that warranted Section 3's presence. To answer Hazuki, the police officer turned toward the doors into the Supermarket and pointed out the left door, which the three of them now looked at and realized was cracked and dented like someone threw a rock at it.

"As of now, that is the only thing in the entire store that is out of place. When we asked the people in this area if they heard or saw anything, a few of them recalled that they had heard rather distinct footstep running and the breaking of the glass." The police officer explained. "We cannot confirm anything at this moment, but from this our best hypothesis of what the purpose of the smoke bombs was to create a diversion to allow someone to get out of the department store unseen."

"Did this happen at any of the other exits?" Misaki questioned.

"No ma'am, this was the only one. And from the way the glass was shattered, it seems to have been done intentional for some reason."

"And you think it might be the Obeisance of a Contactor?" Hazuki asked, and then walked up to the door to get a closer examination.

"We are just being cautious, in this situation, a lot of people are panicking, so we want to explore every possibility."

"Understandable," Misaki noted, and then looked to Hazuki. "So?" She inquired on the broken glass.

"Hm…" Hazuki hummed as she scratched her chin and contemplated the scene. After a moment she turned to the police officer who had told them all this. "Would it be alright if I tried something? It will involve altering the crime scene."

"What do you plan to do?" Goro asked.

"I'm going to test the theory that this was done intentionally by punching this second glass door and comparing the damages. If we can prove that whoever did this did so on purpose, it could put some more credibility behind the idea a Contractor was here."

"Well, we have gone through with everything we need to do without disturbing the crime scene, so if this will help with the investigation, I suppose that is acceptable." The police officer told Hazuki.

Given the O.K., Hazuki got in a stance and clenched her fist, and then set it flying to strike the pane of glass. With it the glass door broke and dented. After delivering the blow, Hazuki pulled back her hand and whipped it out a few times from the stinging pain it had caused and clicked her tongue in annoyance.

Regardless, she looked back and forth between the glass she had shattered and the one shattered last night. The one from last night was larger than the one Hazuki made, but from the way they had both been shattered, it showed that what had broken the glass was definitely something hurled straight at it rather than have been dropped or fallen onto it.

It was concrete, but it was feasible evidence that could say that the person who had done this did so intentionally. And if it was done intentionally, there was likely a purpose behind doing it, like for instance if it was necessary Obeisance a Contractor had to perform. Furthermore, Hazuki had punched with most of her strength and the other one was still larger than hers. This showed that the person who had done it had considerable strength in their arm, which could also hint that they had done that kind of thing multiple times, from having used their power many times.

"Alright, I'd say this Contractor involvement theory may have something to go on now. You've got good instincts to have called us." Hazuki told the police officer.

"Just doing my job." The officer replied.

"Alright then," Goro began. "Since it's become like this, we can handle the investigation from here on out. We'll need the statements you took from everyone you've sent home already, of course."

"I'll get them to you as soon as I can." The officer said, and then left to get to it, leaving the Section 3 people to the crime scene.

"So there you have it, we weren't able to capture them." Hei reported to Oreille via a payphone as instructed.

"I see," Oreille responded on the other end after listening to the details of their chase with the two Contractors Amara and Harvey the previous night. "Well there's no helping it for now. At least since we stopped them from obtaining your file in the first place, there isn't any immediate danger as far as I can tell. Of course since we know they are part of the Syndicate and know the Syndicate is still around, we can't just ignore it, so we'll try again soon."

"We can do it tonight, so long as we can locate them using Yin and July." Hei suggested.

"It won't be tonight," Oreille denied the possibility. "There's another job that has more immediate concerns that I need you to take tonight to prepare for tomorrow." She informed Hei.

Hei didn't argue this point at all, and simply switched his focus to the new mission at hand. "Alright, what do we need to do?" He asked, and Oreille began giving him the details.

Amara and Harvey were currently lounging around their new safe house supplied by Happy Ending. The 'safe house' was actually an old abandoned warehouse that had boarded up entries and windows. It was likely set up by Happy Ending because there was no glass in the immediate vicinity, so the Doll that used it as a medium couldn't find it for the Black Reaper. And though they didn't know what the second Doll's medium was, they could probably assume her medium wasn't present in here either.

Inside, the warehouse looked like it might collapse on top of them any minute and few pieces of furniture that they would easily tell had been put in recently by Happy Ending, because they looked to be brand new. A table and two chairs, a pair of beds, and a cabinet full of non-perishable food products; and not even a lot of it.

The amount of food that was present was good for maybe the day if they ate it sparingly, but considering everything had been set up by Happy Ending, the two Contractors could infer it meant they weren't meant to stay here any longer than that.

Almost the moment Amara and Harvey finished eating their light breakfast the cell phone on the side of the table rang. When it did, both Amara and Harvey reached out to grab it quickly before the other could. Amara wanted to bust Happy Ending's chops for some legitimate answers to everything that happened last night, starting with the woman who was friends with the Black Reaper.

However, Harvey got the phone first and back away from the table before Amara could grab him and take it back. He wanted to keep Amara from shouting at their boss from now on, even though he knew there was little chance of keeping his partner's anger at bay for long. Amara gave Harvey a glare for doing so, but he merely returned it with one of his own behind his shades and then answered the phone.

However, before Harvey could even get a word out, Happy Ending gave him a simple command. "Please give the phone to Ms. Parker, if you would."

Harvey froze and glanced back at Amara, who sat now with her legs and arms crossed in annoyance. She catches this but makes a rude face at him to try and shake him off. However, Harvey drops his arm and sighs. "He wants to talk to you." He muttered to Amara just before tossing the phone to her.

A bit off guard, Amara has to hurry to catch the phone without letting it drop on the ground. After that she puts the phone to her ear and speaks. "Yeah, what is it?" She asked, as this was the first time he had shown any interest in which one of them he was speaking to, he normally just jumped to what he wanted them to know or do.

"I believe you have some questions for me?" Happy Ending said to Amara.

"Is that to say you'll actually give me some answers for once?" Amara made sure, leaning back in her chair and folding her legs.

"Yes, or at least to some of them." Happy Ending told her.

Amara clicked her tongue, as the questions he didn't answer would likely be the really important ones. "Fine then, let's start with that woman; the one who used to know the Black Reaper."

"Her name is Irene Baltar. As of now, she is working under my direct command."

"So that means she's part of the Syndicate now?"

"No, she is not an official member. Think of her more like a paid mercenary; she is not affiliated with us, but is simply helping us for pay."

"But you're gunning for the Black Reaper, who she used to be friends with. Does she know about that?"

"Yes, and in fact I had already sent her to fight him a while back. However, she had been unable to defeat him and had to flee."

"So that means she must be your everyday Contractor now, if she went through that kind of reunion and attacked him without remorse."

"Not at all, she even attacked me because she realize that I had set up the whole affair and was only using her."

Now, Amara was getting confused, and sat forward in her chair, which made Harvey wonder what Happy Ending had told her. "Wait a second, she attacked you but she's still working for you!?"

"She was just letting out her anger as you do, only in a more violent way. When she had calmed down some she left, but she still works for me because she needs the money."

"That's some screwed up logic." Amara noted, and then took a breath to try and keep herself calm before she asked the one question she expected to get shut down. "Now when the hell did she become a Contractor, and how did you know it was going to happen?"

"You don't need to be concerned with that part." Happy Ending said, and Amara clenched her teeth because she was right, but miraculously kept herself from screaming at her aggravating boss.

"Fine then, next question." Amara went on. "How did you know that the Black Reaper was coming after us last night? Actually, how about you tell me how you could have even known the CIA would hire him to do the job."

"There is a person high up in the CIA that knows BK-201 and his cohorts very well, and BK-201 had worked for her once before besides."

"So that's how you managed to get the CIA to do what you wanted." Amara said, which intrigued Harvey greatly. "You made it so this person in the CIA the Black Reaper used to work for would catch us in the act of stealing his file. And because that made it his problem as much as the CIA's, she would reemploy him to hunt us down."

Hearing all of this, Harvey had a question of his own. "Wait a second, wait a second, put him on speaker phone." He told Amara, who gave him a quizzical look before complying and setting the phone on the table. "Happy Ending, sir, don't you think that's dangerous to us? The Black Reaper knows we're from the Syndicate; if the CIA already knows it was us who tried to take the file, then he can put us together and our organization will get flagged by the government again, which was the entire reason we went underground."

When Harvey explained all of this, Amara reacted negatively and slapped herself in the forehead. "Shit!" Amara had failed to make the same realization as Harvey, so when he brought it up she realized that they were in an even worse position than she thought. If it got out that the Syndicate was still prowling around in Tokyo, things could get ugly real fast. Of course knowing that much, a though came into her head that pissed off. "Oi, Happy Ending…" She said as she stared down at the phone from behind her hand as if her expression of malice could be seen by the man on the other end. "Please tell me you didn't _want_ the Syndicate to be exposed." She demanded.

Now Harvey was surprised again. He had worried too much about how the Black Reaper probably already told the CIA they were from the Syndicate to think about the fact Happy Ending likely set it up to be that way like he had realized he had set them up to be chased the night before, even if he hadn't intended for them to be caught.

That was just the way Happy Ending worked, if something happened, it was likely because he had set it up to happen that way. If he had set it up so that the Black Reaper would be working for the CIA, he must have also known it would lead to the CIA learning the Syndicate was still around. If it was true, then it wouldn't be just Amara this time, Harvey would lose his temper too, and he wasn't sure what would happen if he wasn't calm to restrain Amara's rage.

But in response to Amara's question, Happy Ending told them, "You don't need to worry."

Those words were powerful in this context. He wasn't just saying not to concern themselves with it, but that they didn't need to worry about it at all. If Happy Ending didn't think there was a need, then he had to have a very good reason for thinking so. Wanting to believe that, Harvey recomposed himself and kept calm. "And why's that?" He asked.

"Because the knowledge that the Syndicate still exists has not reached anyone's ears other than BK-201's direct employer in the CIA. That person does not want to spread panic by letting everyone know the Syndicate is still in their midst, and hopes to be able to resolve the situation quietly in the shadows before it gets out of hand. Because of that, you do not need to worry about the Syndicate being revealed." Happy Ending explained it all simply, with a matter-of-fact tone that made it sound like he was trying to convey that there was no need to question it any further.

However, Amara reacted by swinging the hand over her face and slamming it down on the table next to the phone. "AND JUST HOW LONG DO YOU THINK THAT WILL LAST!?" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Harvey actually looked at Amara with surprise when she reacted this way. When she was told that they weren't supposed to get the file she almost got shot over, she had roared with anger, cursing Happy Ending's very existence; but even that expression of anger didn't hold a candle to what she was like now. Right now, Amara was so pissed off that Harvey felt as if she might literally screw logic and go to kill Happy Ending; and if she couldn't find him, kill whoever was closest to her at the time she broke.

Even in all the years Harvey had known Amara, including before they became Contractors and didn't rely on logic, he had never seen her get this furious. Because of that, he found himself praying that Happy Ending had a sane, sound answer to her question. If he didn't, there would be no one who could stop the pandemonium Amara would unleash.

After just a few seconds, Happy Ending gave his answer. "Until it is no longer a problem for you."

One sentence.

That was all it was, but that one sentence seemed to hold the weight of the entire world within its words. Harvey found the statement an amazing argument, but the question remained how Amara would take it.

Harvey looked at her expression, and was honestly surprised to find that, although still quite furious, there was a glimmer of the same kind of surprise he had expressed. And that meant that – if Happy Ending elaborated – she might just calm down. As Harvey expected, Amara then asked, "And how do you know that?"

Harvey looked back at the phone and hoped that Happy Ending would answer her straight out. He hoped and hoped that that would be the case, and then listened intently to the words that came out of the cell phone. "I am a Contractor."

Suddenly, everything froze. Amara and Harvey had been operating this entire time believing that Happy Ending was a human with a personal grudge against the Black Reaper for something he had done to him in the past. But if he was actually a Contractor, even an irregular one, his motives behind going after the Black Reaper became groggy.

Amara had officially calmed down from knowing this though. Whatever his power, if Happy Ending was a Contractor, it explained everything Amara had thought of as off. His power must have what allowed him to be so sure everything would turn out as he wanted it too. But now, Amara felt compelled to ask, "Then what are you after the Black Reaper for?"

However, following this came Happy Ending's classic conversation ender. "There is no need to concern yourself with that yet."

However, instead of getting angry, Amara merely sighed. She had either been worn out from her own anger and became too lazy to be bothered continuing, or had actually been satisfied with what she had been told thus far that it actually didn't tick her off as much as it usually did.

"Is that all then?" Happy Ending checked with Amara.

"Yeah, sure." Amara answered lazily, but Harvey wasn't sure if she really had no more questions or if the ones left were considered minor and she just could no longer be bothered to ask them.

"Good then, now for your next orders…" Happy Ending said, getting down to his real purpose for calling.

After giving them the details of their assignment, December hung up the phone in his hand and turned to face the two people waiting on him, August 7 and Irene Baltar.

"So then, Miss Baltar, I will also be having you go to assist Miss Parker and Mister Baxter on their assignment." December told Irene.

"So that means I'll be fighting Li again?" Irene questioned, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Not quite," Replied December. "In order for Miss Parker and Mister Baxter to get through their task, I will need you to be elsewhere."

"Doing what exactly?"

"The young Contractor girl that was with BK-201 will need to be held off for a time; all you have to do is find and stall her using any means you deem necessary until you receive a certain signal."

"What kind of signal?"

"Well, you'll know it when you see it." December told Irene. "Once you see that signal, you are free to leave the girl and do as you wish. So you can leave altogether or you can stay and observe the rest of what takes place."

"Oh, you can be sure I'm going to watch everything to the end. I'll be watching it all _very _carefully." Irene told December threateningly, and then turned around and left the warehouse.

Once she was gone, August looked back to December. "So then, Happy Ending, what is it you called me down for?" He asked, having been called down to the warehouse, told he was needed for a certain task.

"I need you to go and assist in the next chapter as well." December answered. "I believe that it is about time you made your real debut in this story anyways, after everything you've done for me behind the scenes already."

"Really, so this means that I'm officially coming back from the dead, huh?" August joked, as BK-201 and his whole team with the exception of July believed he had been killed long ago by BK-201 himself.

"That it does." December replied. "You will be acting as a third party however. Miss Parker and Mister Baxter cannot know you also work for me, meaning you will also need to stay out of sight from Miss Baltar."

"What specifically do you need me to do?"

"You will need to intervene between Miss Parker and Mister Baxter's confrontation with BK-201, but have them all believe the MI-6 sent you to capture BK-201 alive."

"Is that right? Sounds like fun." August said.

"You should find it satisfactory, especially since you have not been out much in a long while. But keep in mind you should only keep this up until the police enter in, after that, you should 'escape' from your battle."

"And then what do I do?" August asked.

In response to this, December grinned. "Once you have done this much… amuse yourself." He told August.

At this, August was actually a bit surprised. December rarely did not give exact stage directions for how to perform a scene. But August also knew that if he was told to do as he wished, then it simply meant that the giving of details would not matter. In very few cases, December found that one's own personality and though processes could change the direction of a story; so if December, the author, was leaving how to act up to August, the character, then it also meant that no matter how much he did think about it, his own ideas on how to act would end up putting the story on its proper course, whether he was told to do it or not.

In the big picture, it also meant that even if August wanted to alter the story that December envisioned, he would be unable to do so. No matter how August used the freedom to 'amuse himself', it would ultimately play out exactly how December wanted and needed it to.

Because he knew that, August decided that he would not over think what to do and simply act according to his own desires to amuse himself as ordered. "My, my; this next chapter really is going to be a fun one for me." August chuckled to himself, and then began walking to the door of the warehouse. "Before I go, might I inquire onto the title of this next chapter?" He asked as he opened the door.

To answer, December held up his hand and moved it through the air as if he were writing. "Chapter 15: Meeting Point."

And with that, August smiled one last time and left to go prepare for his 'big debut'.

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**AN: To the last guest that told me Hei's name was spelled Lee not Li, you must have had an off translation or something, because it is Li, you can look it up on his wiki page. Lee is an English name, whereas Li is a Chinese name, and China is where Hei came from.**


	15. Meeting Point

_Chapter 15: Meeting Point_

It was 11:45 AM, and currently there was a traveling circus parade going through the crowded streets of Ikebukuro. Watching from the shadows down the street, Hei was waiting for his target to make a move.

This was the mission Oreille had given him the day before. Using informants she had, Oreille had learned that apparently, within this circus troupe, there were Contractors who managed to carry out some kind of illicit crime during their performances. The mission was to catch these Contractors in the act and apprehend them if they can, but if it became necessary, kill them.

And of course, Hei was not here alone. Elsewhere in the area, Mao, Yin, July, and Suou were waiting as well. "Is everyone set?" Hei asked into their communication device.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Suou answered first. "July, you ready?" She then proceeded to ask.

"Yeah," July answered.

Suou was currently on the roof of a building along the street, looking down over the parade passing by below through the scope lens of her anti-tank gun. July was hiding nearby in a building that was left empty due to everyone being out watching the parade holding a glass bottle to use his Surveillance Specter through in order to assist Suou with her aim.

"I'm in position as well." Mao told everyone, who was continually flying past the many floats in the parade in order to keep his eye out for any suspicious activity from the troupe.

"I'm ready, Hei." Yin answered last, who like July was waiting in one of the empty buildings, using a bowl of water to use her Surveillance Specter through. Luckily, there had been some rain the night before, which meant there were a number of puddles all around Ikebukuro and along the parade's path for her to watch them through.

They were all set up and ready to go at the drop of a hat. But unfortunately, there was one circumstance about this mission that made it much more difficult than likely anything any of them, including Hei, had ever done in the past. That circumstance was the very fact that this was going to be a public battle. And although they were not aware of it, they had other enemies present today.

Amara and Harvey had been given orders yesterday to attack BK-201once they had good opportunity. They were not trying to help the Contractors hidden in the troupe, but they would use this chance to get a second chance at killing their target. And somewhere else, Irene was also hiding nearby, waiting to see the young Contractor girl that was accompanying Li so she could preform her task of 'holding her off' while Amara and Harvey attacked Li.

And finally, unbeknownst to anyone but December, August 7 was waiting within the crowd for his chance to join the chaos that would soon ensue. But in order to make sure he stayed out of sight from Irene until then, August had used his magic ability to alter his appearance, making him look like a thirty-five year old Caucasian man with black hair and wearing a baseball cap.

Oreille's orders to Hei's group had been that the moment any one of them proved there were Contractors within the troupe, they were to attack, but this would mean causing immediate panic among the spectators and possibly getting them involved in the battle.

If it had been possible, each and every one of them, including Oreille, would have much preferred to do this covertly, like at night where they would only have to prove that they had in fact committed a crime and then attack them where no one would be around, but they had not been blessed with those kind of favorable circumstances. The circus troupe already had arrangements to leave the country by sea before sunset, likely to minimize the chance of their crime being revealed. And due to this, it became necessary for the capture of the Contractors to be done in the middle of the parade, as soon as they had confirmation.

Madame Oreille as well was watching from somewhere in the crowd, but Hei and the team were unaware exactly where. She would attempt to provide some assistance if it became necessary, but otherwise intended to stay out of the way until the capture was complete. And so, the group waited. Waited for their chance to snag the Contractors within the troupe.

The troupe performing was small, so there were only four floats with different acts in it. On the first float in front was a man who was breathing fire out to set torches and other objects aflame or set off small firecrackers or fireworks that gave a grand opening display for the upcoming floats. The second float featured a group of 5 women dressed in Indian dance dresses that made them look identical, performing an Indian belly dance in unison, which was then followed by an animal tamer who was using a whip to get a black panther to jump through hoops sticking up from the ground or other tricks. And then on the last float was a man performing a complicated balancing act where he jumped from one thin pole to another while at the same time balancing a number of spinning plates on sticks on his arms and one of his legs without falling or dropping any of the plates.

But even though pretty much any one of these acts looked like they could be done using a Contractor power, there wasn't one of the performers that showed the Lancelnopt radiation of a Contractor ability in use. And no matter how much Hei watched them or the crowd, he saw nothing that looked like it was a crime in process. However, that brought him back to some information Oreille had told him of yesterday.

_"What do you mean there may be Contractors? Wouldn't they exhibit Lancelnopt radiation if they were Contractors?" _Was Hei's question to the initial information.

_"Well that is the problem, despite nothing out of the ordinary appearing to happen during these acts, afterward there are numerous reports of missing property from the spectators. I don't know how they might be masking the Lancelnopt radiation, but they must have found a way."_

The real thing that made the vanishing property of the spectators strange was that it many times included jewelery that they had been wearing at the time, but they suddenly realized part way through were missing, including necklaces that would have been the most difficult thing to remove without the wearer noticing. It was because of all of these factors that it was believed the troupe was using Contractors. Now, they just had to figure out how it was being done.

Hei was moving down the street along with the troupe so he wouldn't fall behind, but then, after a minute or so, Suou suddenly shouted out through the communication device. "Wait a second, what just happened?"

Hearing her surprised voice despite not seeing anything having gone wrong. Hei stopped in his tracks and looked around to try and catch what she caught. "What wrong, Suou?" He asked, still not seeing anything unusual.

In response, Suou hurriedly explained. "Everything just changed! Four of the five women just disappeared and I'm seeing the audiences jeweleries and wallets all flying through the air toward the two men in back, and they _all_ have Lancelnopt radiation."

However, the scene Suou described was nothing like what Hei and all the spectators were viewing. They were still all watching the regular parade go by without anything going wrong. However, Mao soon voiced his guess at what was going on. "Of course, it must be an illusion!" He declared, finding it surprising he didn't think of it before. "One of the Contractors must have an illusion ability that's concealing their abilities and thefts."

"But then why am I able to see what's really happening now?" Suou asked.

"It must be your distance and location." Mao inferred. "The Contractors aren't expecting anyone to be on the roof of the buildings, so the one casting the illusion must not be stretching their radius high enough to keep you in it."

"That makes sense. Suou, can you tell which one is casting the illusion?" Hei asked hurriedly.

"The last two men are using powers to actually steal everything, and it looks like the one in front is actually using his power to create the flames he's spitting out. It has to be the dancing woman on the second float."

"Get her to stop using her power. We need to take her out first but we can't do that while she's using the illusions." Hei told Suou.

"I got it." Suou answered, and then positioned her anti-tank gun down toward the parade's second float.

July was still seeing the illusion, so Suou would have to make the first shot herself. But despite what one might have thought by looking at it, she was not about to break her long-honored deal with Hei.

They all realized it would be difficult for Suou to help out as she wanted to if she never used her gun. So as a compromise, Suou employed the use of a tactic she had used once just before she ran into Izanami at the Gate. At that time, she was confronted by a Contractor named Genma Shizume while her father was injured and couldn't run away. To protect her father, Suou had used her gun and fought against Genma.

The tactic she was using now was the same as the one she had used then: 'Shoot, but don't kill.' If she fired her gun without the intention to actually kill the person she was fighting, it remained within the wishes of her and Hei's agreement. And so, as Suou aimed her anti-tank rifle, she aimed through the scope at the float just behind the female Contractor casting the illusions and pulled the trigger.

Since she was not being safeguarded by an illusion, the sound of her gunshot rang out across the entire street and surprised many people, and in the next instant, the fired bullet shot into the floor of the float the woman was dancing on. But even though the bullet did not touch her, the force of a bullet strong enough to blast through a tank smashed the floorboards and sent a shock wave that caused the woman to be knocked forward off her feet.

The shock and suddenness of the attack caused the illusion-casting Contractor's power to cease activation. And without the illusions in place, the true state of the parade was revealed to everyone present. The extra women vanished, the Contractors' Lancelnopt radiation was revealed, and all the flying jewels and wallet that had been secretly lifted from the spectators bodies were shown. The scene shocked everyone watching, and many realized that their own property was among that which was already stolen. At the same time, the bullet shot revealed Suou's location to Irene. Irene tehn quickly used her power to increase her problem-solving capability and trail the bullet's trail back to where it came from based only on the point of impact she had seen, instantly locating the young girl.

"Found you." She muttered, and then began moving toward her.

The Contractors who had been carrying out the thefts were shocked at the fact they had just been caught in the act, but Hei wasn't about to give them the chance to recover from the shock. Once he could see what was really going on, he took his mask and put it on over his face and then charged through the now panicking people.

Hei ran over and jumped onto the second float where the woman was now attempting to get back to her feet, but before she could Hei grabbed her head from behind and activated his own ability. If she was given even a second, she could imploy her illusions and allow her and all her comrades to escape, so Hei had to make sure she didn't get the chance.

But even still, Oreille told them that she wanted to capture the Contractors alive if it was at all possible, so when using his power, Hei minimized the electrical power so it would only knock her unconscious. But once the other Contractors saw this much, they understood the situation and began making actions to save themselves. At the same time, Amara and Harvey now knew exactly where their target was, and were now waiting for a chance to catch him by surprise.

The troupe Contractor in front was using a pyrotechnic ability, and the men in the third and fourth floats were using a levitation ability and a magnetism ability respectively to draw in their 'earnings'. By now all the spectators were in a frenzy, running over each other to get away from the battle between Contractors that they did not want to get mixed up in.

"Damn! We've been made." The man on the third float said, who had been levitating wallets and other valuable to his float that couldn't be magnetized. "We've got to get out of here now!" He shouted to the man behind him, who then jumped down from the bars he had been using magnetism to stick his metal shoe plates to in order to balance onto the third man's float.

Prioritizing their own safety over helping their other two comrades, the man with levitation powers began levitating the two flats that had the valuables on them into the air, attempting to make a get-away by air.

"I don't think so!" Suou said to herself as she saw this. "July, help me out!"

"Right," July responded. "5 degrees down and fire." He told her through their communication devices, and then Suou did exactly that and pulled the trigger.

The bullet shot into the back of the third float, causing it to shake unsteadily since it was in mid-air, tossing the two Contractors and the black panther on top over and onto the ground. This then caused their abilities to stop, which brought the floats crashing down to the ground again.

"Hei, behind you." Yin's voice came through to Hei to warn him as he turned toward the two men in back that the last of the Contractors on the first float was attempting to attack him while he was distracted.

Quickly, Hei took one of his cords and threw it at a lamppost, the cord swinging around it and then pulling him toward it just before the pyrotechnic Contractor breathed out flames on where he was, almost burning his unconscious ally in the process, although he likely didn't care either way. As Hei was brought over to the lamppost, he unhooked his cord from around it and held onto it himself, afterward proceeding to throw the cord again, this time to be wrapped around the Contractor's neck.

The Contractor did not react fast enough to dodge it, so once it was wrapped around his neck he spit fire out in hopes to burn it before Hei could activate his ability. His plan worked and the cord melted until it snapped; but before he could even throw the remaining cord from his neck, one of Hei's knives flew through the air and stabbed him in the shoulder.

The Contractor stumbled and fell back onto the ground between the first and second float, and just as soon as he got back to his feet Hei was already on him and grabbed his neck. At the same time, both of them activated their abilities and tried to attack the other. But Hei's electricity kicked in faster and knocked the pyrotechnic Contractor out just as some flames flew from his lips. Hei dropped him and began running back toward the remaining two Contractors.

Suou had just gotten another bullet locked and loaded into her gun to take aim and assist Hei when suddenly July's voice rang into her ear in warning. "Suou, watch out!"

"What? What is it, July?" Suou asked him.

July tried to explain quickly. "It's that Irene Contractor, she-" But then July's voice was interrupted by the sound of the door leading onto the roof behind Suou being struck and knocked off its hinges.

Suou jerked her head around to look just to see the door actually spinning through the air at her. Instinctively, she ducked her head, but then the door flew over her and hit the barrel of her rifle, causing it to tip and fall of the corner of the building before Suou could catch it.

"Got you." Irene said unenthusiastically as she drew her blade and ran at Suou.

Back on the ground, Hei pulled another two knives and threw them at the last two Contractors. But before they could get near them, the one of them with magnetism abilities used his power on the knifes to magnetize them to the metal poles on his float. And after that, the levitation Contractor used his power to pull Hei himself into the air so he couldn't attack them.

"Uh, Hei!" Mao called out, who was flying back toward him from behind.

But then, Mao suddenly realized something he could do and looked straight at the black panther at the levitating Contactor's feet and used his own ability to transfer his soul over to it. After that, Mao turned and growled at the two Contractors, who were surprised at the panthers sudden action. Without warning, Mao attacked the COntractor levitating Hei and bit his leg, pushing him to the ground, which caused his ability to stop, and Hei to fall to the ground. After that, Mao stood over the Contractor and put his claws at his neck.

"Yeah, I could get used to this body." He said, revealing to the Contractors he too was a Contractor. "Try to use your power and I'll claw your throat." He warned the levitating Contractor.

Then the final remaining Contractor looked between Mao and Hei, who was back to running at him. Fully realizing he wasn't going to beat him in a fight, the Contractor prioritized getting himself away as quickly as possible and began running away as fast as he could run.

On his way past Mao, Hei bent down and touched the Contractor head under him, shocking him unconscious like the previous two. "Go help Suou!" He told Mao, both of them having heard what happened over the com-set.

"Got it." Mao said, and began running toward the building Suou was at. "July, do you know what's going on up there right now?"

"No, there's no glass on top of that building." July answered.

"Better hurry then." Mao said and quickened his pace.

Hei continued chasing the last Contractor when suddenly Yin gave him a warning. "Hei, duck."

Hei didn't question why and immediately buckled his knees back to make him fall to the ground. And although doing this allowed the last Contractor to continue running, it also saved him from being hole-punched by several bits of energized metal. However, immediately after that, Hei was struck in the side by an invisible force that knocked him to the side.

Seeing both those abilities, Hei realized who it must have been, and then looked up to see Amara and Harvey in the alleyway. "Damn Doll!" Amara shouted as she stomped down on the puddle Yin's Surveillance Specter had come from in anger since it caused her attack to miss. "You're ours this time, Black Reaper." She said, turning her attention back to Hei and pulling more bits of metal from one of the pouches on her waist and stepping toward him.

Hei got back to his feet and stood off against them, unable to think about the Contractor that got away thanks to them in order to protect himself. However, before their fight progressed any further, another voice spoke up from behind.

"Not so fast." The voice said, stepping in behind Hei as the three of them all looked over to see a middle-aged man in a baseball cap. "BK-201 will be coming with me."

"Who are you?" Hei asked, wondering who he was and why he wanted him.

At his question though, the mysterious man laughed and took the baseball cap off his head. "Come now BK-201..." He began, and began slowly moving the baseball cap over his face and body. "...Surely you remember me!" He finished his statement and suddenly morphed his appearance, showing his true form that Hei recognized.

The man now looked younger and had long blonde hair. He was now wearing a red trench coat and the baseball cap in his hand was now a top hat he placed on his head. "August 7!?" Hei said in shock, recognizing him but not believing his eyes, since he thought August had died after they fought before the Izanami events when he had lost his powers due to an anti-Contractor weapon used on him by Section 3.

"Surprised to see me? I'd guess you would be." August said. "When making a person disappear from underneath a sheet, you have the person duck behind something large enough to hide them before the sheet falls to the ground, making it seem as though they vanished." He added on a magic trick secret for his Obeisance.

"Now hold up!" Amara shouted at August, not having any idea who he was. "Just who are you?"

"August 7, from the MI-6. I have orders to capture BK-201. Alive. And so I'll have to request you both step down or I'll take care of both of you as well." August threatened in an act, going along with Happy Ending's script.

"Not a chance," Amara told August. "The Black Reaper is ours, so don't get in the way if you want to live."

At this remark, August smiled as if finding the idea funny. "Very well, you leave me no choice." He told them, and then activated his ability and suddenly two swords shot down from his sleeves and he charged forward at the one closest to him, BK-201.

At the same time, Suou was being attacked by Irene. Suou managed to roll out of the way of Irene's initial attack and had attempting to find some way of fighting back. She might have tried to rematerialize her rifle, but doing so required about five seconds to do, if she tried to make it while being attacked like this, it wouldn't end well for her. Irene had also knocked Suou's com-piece out of her ear, and since it was a wireless device, it fell to the ground and Irene crushed it, cutting her of from her team.

Now, she was mostly trying to keep herself from being cut by Irene's sword, although for whatever reason, Irene was not employing the use of her ability, which made her much slower and easier to dodge than she could be. Suou wasn't sure what the reason for this was, but at least she was surviving the fight.

But suddenly, Irene glowed with the Lancelnopt radiation that signified her using her power, which would then grant her amazing levels of speed that Suou had little chance of keeping up with. And yet, instead of swinging her sword once more in an attempt to cut Suou open,, she leaped forward at her and struck her elbow into Suou's gut, smashing her into the ground hard enough to make her feel like she was about to puke. Then, standing over her, Irene stabbed her sword into the roof beside Suou's head in threat to cut her head off if she tried anything.

Suou stared up at Irene, frightened but determined not to show it. The last thing she heard from her com-piece was Hei tell Mao to come help her, so maybe if she stalled long enough he would get here in time to stop Irene. "So-"

"Hey..." However, before Suou could try and stall with words, Irene spoke to her instead. "What's your name?" She asked.

Her question surprised Suou, but what surprised her even more was the oddly melancholy tone in her voice as she asked that made her feel like she wasn't in danger. Slowly, Suou breathed before answering. "Suou,"

"How long have you known Li?" Was Irene's next question.

This question was even more surprising to Suou than the last. Even though Irene used to be friends with Hei and shown at least some kind of sadness in realizing she was fighting him the first time she showed up, she had appeared to get over it easily enough and attacked him anyways. And yet her tone stayed the same and it made it seem as if Irene was asking these questions so she could learn about the real 'Li' that she used to share an apartment building with.

So Suou answered her hesitantly. "Well, we first met about 9 months ago, although the actual time we've spent together only amounts to about two."

"You're just a kid..." Irene muttered under her breathe.

"Huh?" Suou asked, not quite catching what she said.

"How old are you, Suou?" Irene asked her, calling her by name as if she was trying to come along as her friend.

Again, Suou was slow to answer her, each question just made her more and more suspicious of Irene's motives for asking them. "I'll be 14 in a couple more months."

"So young..." Irene said, this time where Suou could hear her. "It seems so unfair; kids like you becoming Contractors against your will."

"Yeah, I guess so." Suou agreed.

"So, what's the real Li like. Is he really as heartless as what Contractors have always been rumored to be?"

"No," This time Suou's answer came quickly, although a bit weak. "I mean, he can be kind of a jerk sometimes, but deep down he's kind; especially to Yin."

"Yin?" Irene questioned.

"The Doll with silver hair." Suou answered. Suddenly she realized the uneasiness of speaking with Irene was going away somehow. "When we first met, he had said that when he found her he was going to kill her, but he ended up not being able to go through with it, and saved her instead."

Then Irene asked, "Really? Li did something like that?" And then something wet hit Suou's face. It was a tear, Irene had begun crying from being told that story, and Suou now realized she was also shaking slightly. "Thank goodness!" Irene breathed after that, and looked down at Suou with a relieved smile on her face along with the tears of joy.

This action surprised Suou more than anything else she had done so far. So much so that Suou almost couldn't believe she was actually a Contractor. "You..." She began, but didn't finish it, and instead just continued to look up at Irene in bewilderment.

Meanwhile, Mao was still on his way up the tall building to help Suou. Irene had made it look easy from using her ability to get up, but that granted her superhuman speed and stamina, so it really had been nothing for her. But Mao just had the speed and stamina of the black panther he was in. And although granted it was greater than a regular human's, it was still not enough to climb up tens of flights of stairs without getting warn out.

"Hold on Suou, I'm coming." He said, perhaps thinking that she could hear him, unaware she had lost her com-piece, and then kept running.

Even though Hei was completely shocked to see August still alive, he put himself together in order to fight against him as well as Amara and Harvey. However, he knew from the first time he fought August that he was not easy customer. If he had survived even the electric shock he had given him that time somehow, who knew exactly what else he was capable of.

Amara had become obvious ticked off at August's interruption as she took out a handful of eraser tips from one of her pouches and energized the lot. She clearly intended to kill August as quickly as possible to focus on the Black Reaper, knowing they would need to be able to in order to kill him. Once the handful was energized, Amara took them all and threw them at August, however, Hei knew that wasn't going to do much good against him.

August sneered and activated his ability of 'Magic'. When he did, the energized eraser tips all collided with his body, but didn't harm him whatsoever. After that, he held out his hand palm down and the same energized projectiles shot down out of it and stuck into the ground at his feet. "Nice try, but no." August said and then ran at Amara with his two swords.

When he swung one, Amara jumped away and then Harvey tried from his side. August saw him readying his power and swung his sword to the side, but it was struck by Harvey's invisible blast and crushed. August stepped away from him and then threw the shattered blade at him, but he got out of the way.

However, when he did, Hei made a move. Hei ran up behind Harvey and stretched his hand out to grab his head, but almost immediately when he did, Yin's voice came up in his ear. "Hei, duck left." He did so without using his ability and narrowly avoided an energized projectile to his face.

Harvey turned to try and blast Hei with an invisible force, but when he did Hei threw out a metal cord and wrapped it around his wrist, jerking it to the side just as the force shot out and smashed into the ground instead. Just then Hei's cord was cut by an energized metal bit Amara shot off from a distance.

But directly after that Hei saw August come up behind Harvey with his ability already active. Thinking fast, Hei took one of his few remaining knives and threw it at August's head. Harvey at first though this was meant for him and rolled to the side, looking back to see it having vanished into August just behind him. However, as Hei had hoped would happen, August shot the knife back out of his body at a new angle so it instead stabbed into Harvey's right arm.

Without really thinking, Harvey then used his ability and shot an invisible blast at August, although it would likely do little good against a man that could redirect anything that came into contact with his body. However, surprising everyone including August, August was hit and knocked back by the blow Harvey's attack. For some unknown reason, August had not been able to redirect Harvey's attack like Hei's knives or Amara's projectiles.

After being surprised for a second, August then laughed before getting back to his feet. "My my," he stated with amusement and stood on his feet again. "That was interesting. Best be careful now, I tend to pull the bigger tricks when I'm having fun." August warned Harvey and then activated his ability to pull out a machine gun from within his coat, pointing it at him.

Harvey and Amara almost froze from seeing that. Neither one had a good defense against a machine gun, and had little option for escape in the alleyway besides. If he had time to pull the trigger, they would likely get shot full of holes. Hei of course was wearing his bullet-proof coat so as long as he protected his face he had nothing to worry about.

And although letting the two Syndicate Contractors be killed was tempting, Hei was interesting in capturing Amara and Harvey alive to try and learn more about this 'Happy Ending' that put the hit on him and even hired Irene when she became a Contractor. In fact, Hei found it likely that Happy Ending was the mysterious person who had been pulling all the strings since the beginning, which encouraged the idea of capturing the two alive even more.

However, before Hei could act to stop August, and even before August pulled the trigger at all, all of their attention were diverted by the sound of police sirens. Evidentially, news of Contractors had finally reached the police and they were mobilized to handle it. Hearing it, August slightly lowered his machine gun and looked back.

"Yeah, I guess that's about right..." He muttered to himself with a disappointed tone.

It was time for August to make his 'escape' from this battle even though he had just found something as amusing and puzzling as his inability to redirect Harvey's invisible blasts like most any other attack thrown at him. Since he was following Happy Ending's script, August then looked back to his opponents only to find Hei suddenly right in front of him stretching his hand out to electrocute him with his ability.

In a reflex, August ducks backwards and drops his machine gun, using his hands to flip backwards. "Well, I hate to leave before my encore, but it's best I leave the stage for now." He said, and then ran around the corner and left.

However, neither Hei or his remaining opponents were about to chase after him if he was willing to simply leave, and so they returned to simply fighting each other.

It was at this point after running for quite a while that the fourth and final troupe Contractor stopped running and hid inside one of the buildings left empty for the parade. Closing the door behind him, he tried to catch his breathe before he would figure out the rest of his escape. He turned around to see if there was a water jug or something around, but when he did his rasping breathe suddenly caught in his chest. Now in front of him was a woman with silver hair, standing next to a counter with her hand in a bowl of water.

From the girls stone cold expression, the Contractor automatically discerned this girl was one of the Dolls they had previously noticed watching them during the parade, but had pretended not to notice. And since she was here alone, she likely had some kind of communication device on her that allowed her to tell her comrades what was happening. If she let on that he was here, it would basically mean starting his escape over from scratch, even if he killed her.

But the Doll did not even flinch in seeing him, and instead began speaking. "Hei-"

But the Contractor wasn't going to let her inform the Contractor from earlier about his whereabouts so easily. He activated his ability and hoped whatever her communication device was was made with metal. Lucky for him a small earpiece then flew out of her ear, and due to the angle it had done so cut through her ear a bit and made he head jerk to the side. The com-piece then stuck to the Contractor's metal belt and, due to the magnetism, had its signal scrambled and become inoperable.

However, if she was left alive, she still might be able to communicate what was going on with her Surveillance Specter, so the Contractor then took out a switch blade from his pocket and began walking toward the Doll, although she maintained a completely stale expression as she watched him near, although did state one thing, "Stay back."

Hei heard Yin say his name and then what seemed like static before the connection was lost, but had no idea what happened. "Yin? What is it, Yin!?" He asked, becoming worried.

Yin wasn't responding, and that meant something must have gone wrong. Hei wasn't sure what, but he became even more sure of it when he looked at her Surveillance Specter watching the battle and saw it vanish. He became very worried for Yin's safety and then, after dodging Amara and Harvey's next pair of attacks, ran away to go find out what happened, hoping he wouldn't be too late to stop whatever it was.

"Wow, hold it!" Harvey shouted after him. "Where do you think you're going?" He added, and then he and Amara began chasing after him.

However, Hei no longer had time to worry about them, so he used the last of his cords that hadn't been snapped in his belt and hooked it onto a flag pole around the very next corner to sling him across the way faster and then unhook it to keep running another direction before Amara and Harvey could turn the first corner.

"Damn it! Where'd he go?" Amara cursed at loosing the Black Reaper again.

Back on the roof, Irene had removed her sword from the ground and stepped back, wiping the tears from her eyes as Suou slowly stood up, still bewildered by her reactions and questions. "You..." However, before she could continue with that thought she tried to start earlier, an explosion occurred down at the street, and both Suou and Irene turned to see that the first parade float that had been filled with firecrackers and fireworks suddenly had blown up.

When the pyrotechnic Contractor had been knocked out by Hei, some of the flame he was spitting out of his mouth had caught onto the float, and spread until it caused that explosion. Seeing it, Irene realized immediately that was the sign Happy Ending told her she would know when she saw to leave by. And so, without missing a beat, she ran to the side, activated her ability, and leaped of the roof to the next building over, and then the next and after that one dropped down into the alleyway, escaping.

It was at that moment Mao, as a black panther, finally got up to the roof. "Suou!" He shouted at Suou, who looked back at him from where Irene had just left. "Are you okay, where did Irene go?" He asking, breathing heavily

Still thinking about everything that just happened with Irene, Suou took a moment to respond. "She... she fled that way." She said, pointing in the direction she had gone.

"Really?" Mao asked, kind of disappointed that he ended up coming all this way for nothing. "Well... at least... you're alright." He said between breathes, and practically collapsed from the fatigue.

Making their way as quickly as possible to the scene that had just been informed had become the sight of a Contractor battle. Misaki drove a car with Hazuki while Goro drove one with Saito and Kouno, and they were being followed by a number of other cop cars for backup. While going as fast as she could, Misaki asked an open question. "Contractors actually fighting in broad daylight, just what is going on?"

"Who knows, this kind of thing has never actually happened before. But according to eye witness reports, all the troupe members turned out to be Contractors, and were assaulted by a sniper along with another Contractor who apparently... wore a black coat and a mask." Hazuki said, putting emphasis on the last part of her statement, looking at Misaki.

"Ah, sounds just like BK-201. You really think its him?" Misaki asked, disguising the fact she was almost sure it was since she knew he was in Japan anyways, but had been unable to surveil him because of how busy she had been lately.

"Seems awfully likely." Hazuki answered, also pretending she wasn't completely sure it was true, since she was the one who brought him back to Japan in the first place, although neither one knew about the other person's knowledge, so they kept it hidden from one another.

"In any case, we need to get there fast." Misaki said.

"Perhaps I can help you out?" Suddenly, another person's voice sounded from the back seat, even though Misaki and Hazuki knew no one was riding back there.

However, the sound of the voice freaked Misaki out and nearly caused her to skid along the road. She looked at her rear-view mirror while Hazuki looked into the back seat to figure out who or what had said that, and were even more shocked to find out who it was.

"August 7!?" Hazuki said in complete shock and confusion, recognizing him from when BK-201 fought him just before they attempting to kill him with an anti-Contractor device that only took away his powers, although Genma had also gone to make sure of August's death by crushing his head.

Misaki had never met August, so she hadn't known what he looked like until now. "What, he's August 7?" She asked Hazuki.

"Yes, although he's supposed to be dead." Hazuki answered.

"Don't worry, I'm on your side here." August assured them both, now 'amusing himself' as Happy Ending had told him to do. "BK-201 is nearby. Would you like to go after him?" He asked them, and then Misaki and Hazuki exchanged glances to see they were both surprised by his proposal, but interested.

"What do you know?" Misaki answer, looking ahead at the road.

Hei quickly made his way to the building Yin was in despite the fact it was actually the direction the police were also coming from, and they were getting closer. Hei immediately threw the door open to the building Yin was supposed to be in and shouted her name. "Yin!" However, he stopped short when he opened the door, because when he did, Yin was standing right in the doorway in front of him, looking just fine except for a small bleeding from her ear. "Yin, what happened?" Hei implored Yin, putting his hands on her shoulders in urgency.

"I'm fine, Hei." Yin answered.

"What happened to your earpiece?" Hei questioned why they had been cut off.

"Short circuit." Yin answered, and then took a listen to the police sirens. "Hei, we should go." She said.

"Yeah," Hei agreed and grabbed her hand, leading her out of the building. "Mao, July, Suou; meet up at the Rendezvous point." Hei told the others over the earpiece and left with Yin.

However, what Hei had not seen within the building because Yin had been at the door to keep him from coming in was what actually happened to the last remaining Contractor that had been in the room about to attack her.

On the wall right next to the door, the Contractor was mysteriously plastered onto the wall with holes in his body and blood splattered all over, his face contorted in utmost pain. But the cause of that was something only Yin knew.

Following Augusts directions, Misaki broke from the rest of the police formation, informing them to continue on without them, but leaving the reason unknown. As she drove, August began speaking in the back seat. "To preform the illusion of pulling something out of a hat, all it takes is placing it on a table with a hidden compartment where both it and the hat have opening slots to reach into where the rabbit is hidden." He exposed the secret of a magic trick, although that specific one was fairly well-known.

Misaki turned left and continued to straight until suddenly, two people ran out in front of the police car. And they all recognized who they were immediately: BK-201 and his Doll, Yin.

Instantly, Misaki slammed the breaks, although even after seeing them, Hei and Yin continued running past to get away. Once the car fully stopped, Hazuki and Misaki got out and ran over to try and catch them.

"Hold it BK-201!" Misaki yelled and pulled out her handgun. However, when they got to the corner, both he and his Doll were nowhere to be seen.

"Come on, maybe we can still catch them!" Hazuki said, and they ran back to the car.

"August, do you know where they're heading?" Misaki asked as she put her seatbelt back on. "August?" She asked again after not getting a reply, but then looked back and found that August had vanished,

"Never mind, let's hurry." Hazuki told Misaki, who turned back and began driving.

But when she looked forward again, she saw a piece of paper stuck to the dashboard with a message on it reading: _Remember the term 'Happy Ending'. Don't tell Mina Hazuki._

(What, don't tell to Hazuki?) Misaki thought to herself, glancing over at Hazuki and back at the note, but it too had suddenly vanished.

Hei and Yin met up with Mao, Suou, and July later out of sight of where the parade had taken place, and Hei removed his mask. "Good, we're all here." Mao said, still in his new found body of a black panther.

"So what about the Contractors from the troupe?" Suou questioned.

"Oreille should already be getting them in custody, and if not, the police will. That just leaves the one that got away, but he didn't get away with any of the stolen goods, so it should be alright." Hei explained. "There's some things we'll go over later, but for now let's head back the the house. I'll contact Oreille later."

Everyone nodded and the five made their way back to their house. A lot happened that day, but they all managed to make it out alright, and right now, that's all any of them cared about.


	16. The Plot Thickens

_Chapter 16: The Plot Thickens_

After failing to find BK-201 after he ran past their car, Misaki drove herself and Hazuki to where the traveling circus parade, revealed to have been Contractors using their powers to steal the valuables of their audience, had just been in a battle with BK-201. However, when the pair arrived at the scene, they were surprised at what they saw.

Crime scene tape was closing off the area while agents were tying up the unconscious troupe Contractors who had been knocked unconscious when they were attacked. However, the odd part of this scene was actually who was on the two sides of the tape. On the outside were Section 3 and the FBI backup they had brought with them when they heard about the mess, and on the inside handling the Contractors were, in fact, CIA.

"What's this? Why is the CIA here?" Misaki asked Goro, who stood at the crime scene tape with his arms crossed in aggravation.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Goro responded. "I've already requested to speak to whoever is in charge here, so we should be able to get some answers here in just a minute."

Misaki sighed at hearing that and looked around the taped off area at the CIA agents doing their work. But then, her eyes came across a certain woman walking out from behind the front float and speaking with another agent. The woman she saw was Madam Oreille, and upon noticing her, voiced her surprise.

"Oreille!?" She called out to her, and then the other members of Section 3 then took notice of the CIA woman.

Hearing her name, Oreille looked over and saw Misaki, smiling and waving in a friendly manner to her before walking over to the group at the tape line. "Hello, Misaki. I figured Section 3 would get called in." She said, looking across at everyone before turning toward one of the CIA agents. "Let them in, but only Section 3. Since this incident involved Contractors is it in their jurisdiction. So answer any questions they have." She told him.

The agent then lifted up the crime scene tape to allow for those of Section 3, consisting of Goro, Misaki, Hazuki, Kouno, and Saito, to pass through. "Misaki, come here for a moment would you?" Oreille asked Misaki, and lead her away from the others to speak privately for a moment. "So, Misaki, how have things been with the BK-201 situation?"

Though Oreille asked that, it was not a literal question since after all, BK-201 was working for her. Rather, Oreille was asking Misaki because she had never heard anything back from her despite having requested to be kept in the loop, and wanted to find out just how much Misaki knew.

Misaki though felt that Oreille must have believed she had forgotten about it since she never called her up about it, and so tried to correct any confusion. "Oh, sorry about that. It's just that ever since then I've ended up being too busy with work that I never got that chance to surveil him. If I had had the time I might have known this was going to happen before it did." She added, looking around at the scene once more. "Unfortunately, I never had a clue what BK-201 was up to, and now he's shown up here and I don't know why..."

"Don't worry about it, I just wanted to check."

"So Oreille, I don't mean to sound rude but... what is the CIA doing here?" Misaki asked, as this case should have gone directly to Section 3.

"Well, let's round up the rest of Section 3 and I'll tell you." Oreille said and lead Misaki back to the Section 3 group, whom were still questioning the CIA into what was going on. "Alright, get these Contractors back to HQ and be sure to lock them up tight, the woman can use illusions, so make sure to be extra careful with her and not to fall for anything she tries to pull to escape. I'll finish things up here." She gave orders to the agent, who nodded his head and went off to do as told.

"So what is CIA doing here?" Hazuki questioned Oreille. "Who called you in?"

"No one, we've been here from the start." Oreille explained. "A few informants I know gave me enough reason to believe the troupe members were Contractors, so I sent a group in to prove it and stop them."

"You sent a group; who? It was BK-201 who attacked the troupe; Kirihara and I saw him fleeing the scene on our way over here."

"You what?" Goro spun around to make sure he heard Hazuki correctly.

"That was what we took the detour later, but its actually a long story, so we'll fill you in later." Misaki told Goro, the 'long' part being about how August 7 was the one who lead them there. "We did see BK-201, but we lost him all too quickly."

"Anyways, back to the matter at hand." Hazuki cut in, going back to her original question to Oreille. "What group?"

"You just answered your own question actually." Oreille responded. "BK-201 is working for me now."

"Wow, wow, wow! BK-201 is _working for_ _you_?" Kouno shouted in disbelief, as Saito's jaw dropped along with everyone else.

Kouno and Saito's surprise though was greater than the rest. The two of them had been promoted into Section 3 only a couple months ago through recommendations from Misaki herself. But they had absolutely nothing to do with the Izanami events that had taken place 7 months ago, and so didn't know that BK-201 had once worked for Oreille and the CIA once before, so the news came as even more surprise to them, who only ever knew BK-201 as an infamous criminal agent of the Syndicate.

"When did this happen?" Goro asked.

"Just a couple of days ago actually." Oreille answered. "I had actually found that BK-201 and his Doll had come back to Japan over a month ago when I got a hit on the fake passports they used to get on a flight over here; but I wasn't entirely sure what his plans were in coming back, so I wanted to keep it low key at first."

Oreille explained all of this, but left out the part about Misaki being involved. Hazuki was surprised to hear this, and also confused on how Oreille didn't know about her as well. She had been on the same flight and at the time had been using a fake ID as well. If she had caught on to BK-201 and his Doll, she wondered how she hadn't caught onto her as well.

But at the moment that didn't matter. What mattered now was BK-201. "So what changed?" Hazuki questioned Oreille.

She said she wanted to keep BK-201's return low key at first, but apparently something had happened that made her decide to go to him and get him under her command. "The night before I went to him, a couple of people snuck into the CIA archives and attempted to steal the file we had on BK-201, or rather the file under the name of his previous alias 'Li Shengshun'. I still don't know who they were, but they were looking into him, and so I went to BK-201 and made my offer. And he accepted."

"So now he's working for you in order to try and discover whoever was looking into him." Goro summarized.

"Yes," Oreille answered, although really that was a lie. They already knew who the people trying to take BK-201's file were, and that they were members of a smaller but still remaining Syndicate.

But Oreille didn't want to cause panic by suggesting the idea that there might still be remnants of the Syndicate somewhere in Law Enforcement Agencies, and was going to try and figure out how to proceed once they apprehended Amara and Harvey Baxter.

Then Oreille added, "I also told him that I would attempt to get his situation with the law under control if he came aboard, since his isn't exactly favorable." She told them. "Since he's assisting a government agency, as long as he continues working for me as needed, there shouldn't be any problems, right?"

At this, Goro sighed. He had no personal qualms with this situation, it was just a bit overwhelming. "I suppose not. And so long as it stays that way, you can tell BK-201 that we won't be pursuing him." He told Oreille.

Goro did not see BK-201 really as an enemy, and had once even stopped Hazuki from killing him on the false belief that he had been the one who killed Yoko Sawasaki, as well as later allowing him to go find Izanami within the gate. So long as BK-201 didn't do anything that warranted Section 3 going after him, he had absolutely no issue letting well enough be well enough.

However, as two who didn't know the whole story, Kouno and Saito were a little less optimistic. "H-hey," Saito stuttered worriedly to Misaki. "Is this really alright?"

"Yeah," Kouno agreed. "I mean BK-201 was a big criminal for the Syndicate. Even if they are gone, shouldn't that still be a problem?"

"It's a long, complicated story guys, I'll have to fill you in later." Misaki told them.

"So now that it's not low key anymore, do you know why BK-201 returned to Japan?" Goro asked Oreille.

When he asked, both Misaki and Hazuki subtly glanced over to Oreille. Misaki knew that December had made it a situation that he would return, but she wasn't entirely positive what that situation was. Hazuki on the other hand, knew that he had returned because she had told him that the Izanami events were not yet over, and because of Suou somehow having been restored. Therefore the two of them were curious to know just how much Oreille knew.

Oreille answered Goro, "Well, I didn't ask so I'm not entirely sure; but if I were to venture a guess, I'd bet that it has something to do with a couple of kids we all thought were gone for good: Suou and July."

Upon hearing those names, Goro might have appeared the most surprised one of the group, but that was only because Misaki and Hazuki already knew they had come back, and Saito and Kouno did not know who Suou Pavlichenko was.

However, they were still confused because the DID know who July was. "Wait a second; July? Like the Doll from the MI-6, July?" Kouno questioned, looking to Misaki for an answer, who nodded.

"Another thing I'll explain later." Misaki told them.

"Suou and July are back?" Goro asked in his surprise. "How is that even possible?"

"I have absolutely no idea." Oreille answered. "I didn't want to approach them on that topic, so it never came up."

Goro had to give this some thought now and folded his arms. "So the group you sent here?" He inquired.

"Yes," Oreille confirmed what he was thinking. "It consisted of BK-201, his Doll, Suou, July, and also Ricardo."

"Mao?" Goro questioned, although this time much less surprised than he had been thus far, since that was a much more plausible scenario. "Haven't heard from him since he walked out on us."

After the Izanami event, Mao had been stuck with Misaki, and became part of her new group that became known as the new 'Syndicate'. However, a few months after, he had told them that he had simply grown bored of it all and left. They hadn't heard a word from him since. Even Misaki and Hazuki hadn't known that Mao was a part of this, so that came as slightly surprising to them as well.

"It has been a while; Ricardo found BK-201 and joined with him again. When I found the lot, he agreed to helping as well. I guess it was just the difference of company that bothered him with us."

"Is that all then?" Goro confirmed, feeling this conversation had begun to drone on.

"Just that one of the troupe Contractors managed to escape." Oreille answered. "If you could help in tracking him down, that would be all."

"Alright, we'll see what we can do." Goro agreed.

"Actually," Hazuki interrupted before they parted ways. "There is one last thing we need to tell everyone. Kirihara and I didn't take our detour and just happen to run into BK-201. We were lead there."

"Lead; by who?" Oreille asked.

"August 7 of the MI-6." She answered, once more surprising Goro as well as Oreille, who both still thought he was dead. "He's still alive. He suddenly appeared in the back of our car and gave us directions that lead us to where BK-201 went by us, although immediately after we saw him, August 7 had vanished."

Misaki was then brought back to the note August 7 had left her in his car. _Remember the term: 'Happy Ending'. Don't tell Mina Hazuki. _She had no idea what the term 'Happy Ending' could imply, but why not tell Hazuki specifically was a real question. If August had told her not to tell anyone, that would have been more understandable, but he had specified that Hazuki could not be told the term, which made her very suspicious.

Goro let out a sigh. "Everything happening at once like this. What's going to happen next I wonder?"

"Well, it would be best not to dwell on it all at once. I'll leave you to your work now then, Section 3." Oreille said, and finally walked away to deal with the three troupe Contractors she did apprehend.

* * *

Back at the house, Hei, Yin, Suou, July, and Mao - who had recently taken over the body of a black panther - sat around the table in the dining room to discuss some of the incidents that took place during their latest mission. Amara and Harvey from the Syndicate, as well as Irene had shown up during there mission, and based on how direct their actions were, seemed to imply that they had been there intentionally for them.

They were all after them because of the desire of a man they only knew as 'Happy Ending', who - based on the direct influence he has with everything happening to Hei and his title itself - They could come to assume was the 'man pulling the strings' that Mina Hazuki told Hei and Yin about on the flight back to Japan. The probability of this being true seemed awfully high, but even if they knew it was true, they still had to find him.

July had told them when they first met up that he knew who the mastermind was, but couldn't divulge who it was to them for the purpose of keeping his plan undisturbed, telling them that it was for the best. Other than that bit of secrecy, July had been assisting them with full cooperation as he had done when Hei invited him into their group at the beginning of the Izanami events. He had no reason to distrust July, but the longer this went on, the more Hei dreaded what the end result would be; unable to stop thinking about Hazuki telling him the Izanami events weren't over yet, and what that might mean for Yin.

And then there was the new problem of August 7 from the MI-6. The very fact he was alive aside, August had said that he had orders from the MI-6 to capture him alive, but Hei had no idea what the MI-6 could possibly want with him now. There was also a question of whether or not the MI-6 were aware of July being with, and if that had anything to do it.

But then that thought also brought another question to Hei's mind, and he turned to July. "July," He said. "During the mission today, August 7 showed up."

"August, that Magician Contractor from the MI-6 that was after Suou when everyone still thought she was Shion?" Mao ask, and Hei nodded.

"Didn't you kill him?" Suou questioned, remembering the battle well.

"Apparently not." Hei answered, turning back to July. "July, did you know that August had survived that fight?"

"Yes," July answered straight out. "Both that event and my joining you were part of a plan to catch Izanagi, but it ended in failure."

"So the entire time you were with us you were still working for the MI-6?" Mao asked July. "Does the MI-6 know you're here now?"

To this, July shook his head. "No, if they did, they would have come looking for me."

"Could that be it then?" Hei suggested. "He said the MI-6 sent him to capture me alive. Could August have been sent after me because they discovered you're here?"

With it brought up, July looked down as if considering it. But actually what he was thinking about was if he should tell them August was not actually working under MI-6 orders. But he realized that if August had told Hei the MI-6 sent him here, then December must have told him to say so, meaning he did not want Hei and the others to know about August's connection to the 'mastermind'.

So when he raised his head, he lied. "Probably."

"So what should we do?" Suou wondered.

"Yeah, it was bad enough when it was just those Syndicate Contractors after us." Mao added. "But the MI-6 is the real deal. Things could get sticky if we run into them again."

"If we tell Madam Oreille about it, maybe she can do so something about it?" Suou suggested, as she was already getting Hei's situation with the police under control as thanks for their assistance.

"Ah, good thinking Suou." Mao said.

"Alright, but of course that isn't the only problem we have right now." Hei noted.

"Yeah," Mao agreed. "Hey Suou, how did you manage to get out of that tangle with that Irene anyways?" He asked.

"Eh?" Suou stuttered when she was question. She was still contemplating her whole conversation with Irene and her reactions to all she told her, and wasn't sure she should tell the rest about it; afraid thinking about it might only complicate things. "W-well, I didn't really get out of it, she just sort of ran away just before you arrived when one of the floats blew up. I don't know why."

"Didn't she do the same kind of thing the first time she attacked too?" Mao recalled, looking to Hei. "She just up and ran away right?"

"Yeah, although she said something about having to leave if she was going to make her Obeisance in time."

"What? Make Obeisance?" Mao questioned. "That's odd, Usually Contractors can continue using their powers for as long as needed, and can just pay their Obeisance afterward. I've never heard of an Obeisance with a time limit quite like that."

"Or maybe the time limit itself is part of her Obeisance." Hei suggested.

"Maybe, it's possible." Mao agreed.

"But what her Obeisance is isn't important." Hei said. "We shouldn't swell on it since it won't get us anywhere. But Yin," He turned to Yin, who had a cloth taped to the ear she had somehow come to bleed from. "What happened back there?" He asked, referring to their communications being cut off and her Surveillance Specter having vanished.

"The Communications earpiece short circuited." Yin repeated what she had already told Hei when he first came to get her.

That of course was a lie. What really happened was that the final troupe Contractor had accidentally found himself there and used his power to magnetize her earpiece to his belt, and the magnetic force disabled it. But she kept that a secret to hide the true outcome of that encounter, which resulted in the Contractor's death in a most gruesome and unconfirmed way.

"But why did you stop casting your Surveillance Specter? I thought something happened to you."

"I wouldn't have been able to help you. I was getting you out of danger." Yin told him.

"'Getting me out of danger'?" Hei questioned. But if he took a look back at his fight he would realize that three time Yin's warnings had narrowly gotten him out of danger; two of which were helping him get out of the way of shots Amara had aimed at his head, which would have killed him.

If he had attempted to keep fighting without assistance from Yin, he couldn't be sure he would have been okay. But since Yin did drop her Specter and got Hei to run from the battle as quickly as possible to help her, it removed him from the immediate danger Amara and Harvey presented.

"Yes," Yin replied to Hei's question.

Hei sighed. "Alright, then your ear?" He questioned Yin's injury, despite it being small and insignificant, Hei wanted to check everything due to worrying about the idea of Izanami still being within her.

"I scratched it pulling the earpiece out." Yin lied again.

"Really?" Hei double-checked

"Really." Yin confirmed.

Hei sighed and dropped the topic. "Alright then, I'll go report to Oreille then." He said and stood up.

But then, they heard the front door open and a familiar voice spoke to them. "It's me; we need to talk." It was Oreille, who then came into the dining room and looked across the team.

* * *

Back at their meeting warehouse, August flicked his wrist and held out a small piece of paper between two fingers. The paper was the message he had given Misaki Kirihara after giving her her first glance at BK-201 since the Izanami events, which would also lead up to the real meeting Happy Ending had promised her she would have.

Hodling the message in his hands, August struck a pose as if he thought it should be very impressive and then looked at Happy Ending, who was sitting at a table in front of him. "So then, did my 'amusement' scene play out well?" He asked, a grin sprawled across his face as he lightly flicked the piece of paper through the air to land on the table in front of Happy Ending even though he already knew exactly what it said.

"'Remember the term 'Happy Ending'. Don't tell Mina Hazuki.'" Happy Ending read the note aloud, looking up and grinning back at August. "Looks as though you truly did have fun with your 'resurrection'. Now you have both sewn seeds of doubt and set a piece of foreshadow that also acts as a mystery for future event." He told August, which made his smile broaden even more.

"I'm so glad you approve, Happy Ending. For a moment there I was wondering if this might actually cause some problems you didn't need. But I see now that I made the right choice for my amusement." August said turning away from Happy Ending and raising his arms proudly and victoriously.

At that time, the door to the warehouse opened and Irene Baltar came in, an unsatisfied frown crawling over her face that she always had when she came here. "I'm here." She stated.

"Welcome back, young miss." August greeted Irene with a kind voice despite her cold disposition toward him, which made her stop and look at him with a bit of frustration. But when August looked at Irene there, he looked confused for a second before replacing it with a surprised smile. "What happened to you? Did the young Contractor girl pepper spray your eyes?" He asked, referring to how Irene's eyes were red and puffy, as if she had just been crying, which unbeknownst to August, she had been.

But Irene was not amused by his joke and responded crudely. "What happened to you? Did you get a sword stuffed down your throat?" She asked. "Because if not I can help you out with that." She added to her confusing question, grabbing her sword to illustrate the point that August should just shut up.

Easily understanding her desire, August held up a hand in a 'I get the picture' manner and stepped back to show his compliance. With that settled, Irene walked past August and up to Happy Ending, who smiled up at her. But when she did, she lifted her fist and punched Happy Ending hard, although did not add her ability to strengthen it further. August was unsure why Irene had done this, as nothing that happened at the parade should have angered her.

Then Happy Ending, who let it happen, picked his head back up to look at Irene while still grinning. "And might I ask what that was for?" He said.

"I'll bet you know damn well what that was for." Irene replied, but explained her reason anyways. "I want to know just what happened with Li's Doll girl, Yin."

"Could you be a bit more specific please?" Happy Ending requested of Irene, standing up from his chair and picking up one of 3 beer cans on the table, handing it to Irene for her Obeisance.

Snatching the can from him, Irene opened and began pouring the beer out onto the ground. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! After I watched Li and his Doll get away from a cop car that showed up, you called me to _dispose of a corpse_!?" She shouted, surprising August a bit, as he knew nothing about a dead body. "And just so you know, the only reason your not dead already it because that troupe Contractor has no connection to Li! At least none I know of anyways..." Irene added, narrowing her glare at Happy Ending while starting on the second can of beer. "So you'd best get explaining how a Contractor ended up in that kind of state after being in the same room with a Doll for just a few minutes!"

"First I'll assure you that the Contractors from the troupe have absolutely no connection to BK-201 whatsoever beyond their battle today. You realize that I wouldn't have asked you to preform the task if that had been the case." Happy Ending told Irene, walking a bit away from her before continuing as she began emptying the last can of beer. "As for how it happened, I'm afraid I cannot say at this time.

"What I can tell you is that that instance is not the first time BK-201's Doll has killed a Contractor." He told Irene, which made her stop and listen intently, focusing on every following word. "That Doll has always been special. Over 7 months ago, several organizations were attempting to capture and/or kill her because of that power and what it was supposed to cause. All you need to understand at this moment is that that Doll does not pose a threat to your desires; and in fact, will help protect them."

Listening carefully as well to get the gist of what happened, August came to somewhat understand what they were talking about, since he himself was part of one of the organizations attempting to kill BK-201's Doll. Because of that, he knew what her power was and how it could easily be used to kill a Contractor. However, because he knew that and more, he was now confused on how it could NOT be a threat to Irene's desires and supposedly a safeguard of them.

But due to the situation, he did not voice these thoughts while Irene was present, and instead listened to her response in light of this information. "Really?"

"Can you think of any reason one of those close to BK-201 would be a danger to the others close to him?" Happy Ending asked calmly, sounding sure Irene would be unable to find an answer to this question and holding out a stack of cash for Irene's payment.

Although it didn't seem as though Irene even gave the question much thought before clicking her tongue and grabbing the stack of cash from Happy Ending. "Fine, I'll accept that answer for now. But if I find out there's something you're not telling me..."

"Indeed, there is no need to worry, Miss Baltar." Happy Ending said, interrupting Irene's reminder of her threat to kill him while giving her an almost annoyingly 'calm with certainty' look.

At his expression, Irene scoffed and turned away, leaving the warehouse until she received new orders. Once she was gone, August voiced his confusions. "She's not a danger to her wishes you say?" He asked, with a partially sarcastic tone. "How do you figure?"

"Unfortunately, I am unable to tell you." Happy Ending told August. "If I could I would, but this is a reason that has yet to appear."

Hearing this, August raised his head slightly in surprise. "Oh? You mean to say that it isn't a fact you learn about in the past?"

"That is right, I wasn't aware of it until I began writing her in." Happy Ending confirmed.

"Hm, I see." August said, looking as if he were contemplating this information to learn how to proceed. "Well, well, this story is getting more and more interesting with every page, Happy Ending. I can't wait for the big reveal on this reason."

"I look forward to it as well. I will call you later." Happy Ending said, to which August put up and hand and wave to him as he left the warehouse. But once he was gone, Happy Ending added to himself, "Although others may be less optimistic."

* * *

"I've informed Section 3 about your position with me." Oreille told Hei and the others as she sat down around the table with them. "They've agreed not to pursue you as long as that stays in effect. So from now on you have a little more freedom with your actions. That said, we still need to find those Syndicate Contractors that are after you."

"And speaking of, the two of them showed up at the parade today." Hei told Oreille.

"What," Oreille questioned.

"That's why the last troupe Contractor was able to get away."

"Well, what happened; did they get away?" Oreille inquired onto the end result, since they obviously didn't capture Amara and Harvey.

"Yin's communications blew out and her Specter dropped, so I had to run to make sure nothing had happened to her. She told me she dropped her Specter to get me out of the fight; which was probably a good idea, because those two had managed to come dangerously close to killing me."

"Really, their that skilled?" Oreille couldn't believe that BK-201, the Black Reaper himself, had nearly been killed.

"Yeah, the Syndicate didn't send out amateurs for this one." Hei said, although even if he probably wouldn't admit it, if Hei thought back on things, he would be able to recall several instances where he might have been beaten if it hadn't been for his allies. "But they weren't the only ones who showed up unexpectedly. August 7 from the MI-6 was there too. He said he was sent to capture me."

When Oreille heard this, she always jumped up in surprise. "Wait a second, August 7 attacked you?" She asked, although it didn't sound like she was surprised he was alive, but just that he had attacked Hei.

"Yes, but why do you sound like-"

"August 7 showed up on our end too." Oreille cut Hei off. "He appeared to Misaki Kirihara and Mina Hazuki, and then lead them to you before vanishing."

"He did?" Hei confirmed, but then noticed something else peculiar about that statement. "Hazuki?" He muttered curiously, and on accident.

Mina Hazuki had been the one who came to China and got him to come back to Japan. Due to those actions, he had assumed that for whatever reason she wasn't working with Section 3 anymore. And yet now he was hearing that she was still with the police force, which added on quite a bit of confusion.

But apparently Oreille didn't find his question odd, because she continued speaking without pause. "Yes, Hazuki was recently found and reinstated into Section 3. I'm not sure on the details yet. But back to August, if he was after you, do you know why?"

At this, Hei and the others looked at July for a second. "We believe they may have discovered that July is with me, and are looking to capture him."

"I see, that certainly would make sense." Oreille agreed, contemplating what to do now. "Well, I should try to sort that out. I can contact the MI-6 and inform them of the circumstance, but given the type of problem and who we're dealing with, I'm not entirely sure how well it would play out."

"They're still a government agency, so if you explain everything they shouldn't try anything too drastic in response." Hei noted. "Worst-case scenario is they force us to hand July over to them as he is primarily their agent."

"You're probably right. Still, I'll try to do everything I can. So in the meantime, you guys try to track down those Syndicate Contractors again tonight. That alright?" Oreille asked the group, standing up. They all nodded their heads in agreement, and then Oreille took her leave.

However, keeping it to himself, July thought about how all of this would actually play out. He was the only one of them that knew about August's true position in December's story; and that meant that he currently had no tie to the MI-6, and had effectively dropped off of their radar. And that meant that the MI-6 actually had no idea that all of this was going on at this time.

But that would change the moment Oreille contacted them. When she did, she would bring up not only August's appearance, but his own presence as well. Both of which would entice the MI-6 to take action to correct the outside actions of their defected members. But of course, July also knew that if August told Hei that he was sent by the MI-6, then it was because December had told him to do so, meaning that this was all part of December's plan, and these actions were meant to happen.

Knowing all of this, July calmed himself down and waited for the results to simply happen. He would trust that December was not making a mistake.

* * *

After waiting for few hours at their new house provided by Happy Ending, the phone in Amara's hand rang, and she muted the television news she was watching to answer it. "I'm sure you already know everything, but we failed to kill the Black Reaper again." She told Happy Ending, but without the anger that usually fills her voice, replaced this time with a simple bored tone.

"That's quite alright." Happy Ending replied to Amara. "You will have another chance to try tonight." He added.

At that time, Harvey entered the room carrying two glasses of water. "That right? We're going after him tonight?" Amara confirmed, taking one of the glasses from Harvey as he handed it to her, taking a sip.

"Yes, but I would like to make my expectations from you on this mission absolutely clear so that there is no confusion. So would you please put me on speaker phone so Mister Baxter can hear me as well." Happy Ending requested, and Amara did so, placing the phone on the coffee table in front of her as Harvey sat down on the couch arm, listening.

"So what are we into this time Boss?" Harvey asked with just a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

"Up to now, I have not been very strict on the quality of your work, and have helped you out of a few of the jams you have found yourself in while attempting to kill BK-201." Happy Ending began.

But before he continued, Harvey interjected. "I would like to point out that you actually set up most of those jams yourself, Happy Ending."

"True enough." Happy Ending laughed off Harvey's complaints. "But none the less, this time I expect you two to try you very hardest to defeat BK-201. If this time you are unable to overcome him, I will not provide assistance."

To this, Amara actually gave a laugh instead of a growl. "What that; finally deciding to act like the boss of the Syndicate, huh?"

"You may look at it as such, but this warning to you is also to maximize your effort. If you know that there is no way out if you fail, you will try even harder to make sure you succeed. Simply do this, and you will not go unrewarded for all the effort you have put forth for me."

To be sure, Harvey picked at Happy Ending's wording. "By 'reward', is that to say that if we do this, we'll figure out just what it was you told us we had to gain by cooperating with you?"

Amara considered this possibility as Harvey brought it up and waited for Happy Ending's reply. "Well, I'm afraid you will just have to wait and see." He told them.

Before, this kind of response might have frustrated Amara to no end. But with the gained knowledge of their boss's status as a Contractor, they were more willing to accept what Happy Ending told them at face value. So far, even if some of the things he had done seemed to work against them, they all seemed to work out in the end result. He told them they had something to gain from helping him, and if that were really true, than nothing could happen to them until they gained. Of course that statement held the prerequisite that said that once they had gained it, they could be seen as no longer needed.

They were not people who would blindly follow orders given to them with the idea that no harm would come to them. All Happy Ending ever told them was that they had something to gain. But he never once assured them that nothing would happen to them after the fact. And so, to prepare for a worst-case scenario, the two Contractors would obey until they believed that it would no longer be in their best interest to do so. Should that moment ever come, they would betray Happy Ending in a heartbeat and, depending on how the end result was, retaliate.

"Alright, Happy Ending." Amara said after a moment's pause. "We'll go along with this; but I've got a question first." She told him, and Harvey looked at her, wondering what the question was. "You've done all of this to get at the Black Reaper, but if you're a Contractor, I can't imagine why you would have gone to such lengthy extremes to do so. So my question is: Just what is it you have against the Black Reaper?"

It was a fair enough question, if they were going to continue risking their lives to try and kill a person for someone else, then they at least deserved to know what they were killing him for. Amara and Harvey waited for Happy Endings reply, but when he finally spoke, he only spoke a single word. "Good-bye." And with that, the call was ended.

Harvey was taken a bit by surprise by this reaction, because for the first time, not only did he not give them the actual answer to their question, but he didn't even bother to tell them that they 'didn't need to concern themselves' with what the answer was.

And yet despite her question having been completely ignored, Amara spoke after with a steady and almost bored tone. "Yeah..." She began as she stood up and unzipped one of her pouches and took out three chunks of metal, holding them between her fingers. "That what I thought." She finished her thought and held up her hand, energizing the metal bits in her hand and threw them straight into the cell phone for a reason Harvey could not quite understand.

After that, Amara gulped down the rest of the water in the glass Harvey gave her, exhaled heavily, and then tossed the glass cup into the air. Once she had, she clamped her hand into a fist and pulled back, smashing her fist into the glass cup as it fell down to fulfill her Obeisance.

"Let's go, Harvey." Amara said once all of this was done, without any tone of caring. "We've got a Reaper to fight."

"Y-yeah..." Harvey looked after Amara as she began walking toward the door, utterly baffled by her actions and behavior. And yet he felt an odd sense that asking about it would be the entirely wrong thing to do.

Even given their intimate history with each other, there were part of each other's mind the other simply should not enter. It was better for both of them if it stayed that way, especially now, and so Harvey left the question unspoken.

Leaving the situation like that, Amara and Harvey left to prepare for their 'last chance' of killing the Black Reaper.

* * *

Now alone in the warehouse, December sat back in a chair while appropriately spinning an pen around in his hand. "Well, this 'Rising Action' has certainly been fun, but all good things must come to an end." He said to himself, referring to everything in the novel terms they were to him. "But now the climax that will lead to the true beginning is about to come. This is where everything will truly start, and really reveal the truth of this story surrounding BK-201 and those connected to him.

"'The Plot Thickens'; as one would say. Here, another chapter ends; and at the same time, another begins."


	17. The First Climax

_Chapter 17: The First Climax_

It was just after sunset, and Syndicate Contractors Amara Parker and Harvey Baxter were at a junkyard, preparing for a confrontation with the Black Reaper. Or at least Harvey was.

Per Amara's plan and demand, Harvey was systematically placing any breakable objects he could find within the junk piles around the open space. This was meant to be so that Amara could fulfill her Obeisance mid-battle if she needed to. And so the same opportunity would be available for Harvey, they had stopped by a store earlier to buy a small flashlight that he would be able to flash in his eyes if it was necessary.

However, as Harvey was finishing up, he looked over at Amara while she did something that he knew was so out of character it wouldn't even work as joke. Currently, Amara was sitting on the ground, leaning back against a junker car while applying _nail polish _to a set of _fake nails_ she had bought at the store and glued on. And not only was this out of character, but it wasn't very practical when about to get into a battle, and they would likely get torn off while she was moving around or just when she grabbed one of her projectiles from the pouches on her side.

But even if Harvey were to set this instant aside, Amara had been acting strangely in general since they got this mission from Happy Ending. He was still trying to figure out why Amara had skewered the cell phone after Happy Ending hung up. Even with his absolute refusal to answer her question then, it shouldn't have made her do that. It was as if the way Happy Ending had given them their mission, told them it was their last chance, and refusal to answer made her completely give up on the idea that they would ever need the phone again; like she was sure that they would not win against the Black Reaper and Happy Ending would never contact them again.

And yet even though it seemed that way, she was not running away from that fate. If Amara felt that certain that their fight would end in failure, then logically she should just pack it in and find a place she could just disappear from it all. If Amara wasn't going to flee, then she must have seen a logical reason for her not to.

There were some things about Amara better left unexplained to Harvey, but this was getting too confusing for him to leave alone. It was beginning to worry him. And so, with that thought, he walked over to Amara as she began blowing on the nail polish she put on. "Alright, what are you doing?"

"Making these things look as natural as possible." Amara responded without even looking over at Harvey.

"You know that's not what I meant." Harvey said irritated.

"Don't care," Amara replied blandly.

"What is up with you tonight?" Harvey asked, beginning to sound angry with Amara's attitude, and glaring at her from behind his shades. "You're not behaving like yourself at all."

"And how is that any of your business?"

"It might not be, and it wasn't my first instinct to ask but-"

"You should listen to that instinct then." She cut Harvey off while continuing to examine her fake nails, as if completely ignoring Harvey standing beside her.

"But this is getting too serious." Harvey continued his previous thought anyways. "It's like you've completely given up before you've even tried. What is it about this that's different from our missions under Happy Ending so far?"

"The missions became different the moment Happy Ending started being the one who gave them. This one's no worse and no better."

"Then why are you acting this way? Why did you break the phone once Happy Ending hung up?"

"I'm not answering that."

"You should answer. Happy Ending said this was the last shot we get. But if I don't get an answer, I'll be worrying about it too much later and it'll impair my performance."

"Then go ahead and let it." Amara answered, standing up off the ground and turning away from Harvey. "I'll pick up whatever slack you drop and then some. I may not look it, but I'm more determined now than I've been in any of Happy Ending's other missions." She said, surprising Harvey. "I haven't given up on anything, I've just decided not to worry about it."

"Really?" Harvey questioned with a blank look, like he was completely lost.

"Really." Amara replied plainly, but then suddenly gave a short weak laugh.

"What now?" Harvey asked.

"Just a thought I had." Amara answered. "We really are irregular Contractors, aren't we?" She asked, finally turning to face Harvey, a slight grin on her face now.

Harvey was surprised. They had the conversation not too long ago about what they could have to gain as Contractors, which brought up the point of being irregular ones. At the time, Amara didn't really seem to think they were, giving the explanation that a Contractor's emotions never actual disappeared in the first place, so their simple display of them couldn't be used to say they were irregular. But now it seemed something had happened that changed her mind about that idea.

Harvey then realized that this whole time he had been going out of his way, worrying about Amara over himself, even though the most important thing to a Contractor should be his self. He even said that his worrying about her would impair his performance in the upcoming battle, meaning he wouldn't even be able to let go something that in no way impacted him even if it killed him.

It actually was kind of funny, Harvey thought, but that only covered him. He wondered what Amara had done that made her realize that she herself was also irregular. And yet suddenly that no longer mattered to Harvey at all. Instead, he suddenly felt like Amara had just gone back to normal and that he no longer had anything to worry about.

He still wondered what everything she had done before coming here like the phone and nails were about, but he no longer felt compelled to get an answer. And he thought that perhaps, that was just another part of being an irregular Contractor.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hei and the team were also preparing to track down Amara and Harvey. The two Syndicate Contractors were undeniably skilled, so they knew that it would take their combined teamwork to capture them. Their last attempt at an ambush ended in failure because of an unpredicted phone call that allowed Amara and Harvey to see them coming and run.

And then there was their surprise attack during their mission earlier that day Hei had to flee when Yin's earpiece short circuited. They had gotten replacements from Oreille, so hopefully everything would work out this time.

Once everyone was ready, Hei looked at July and Yin who were sitting at the table, both with their respective mediums in front of them. They nodded in respect to his unspoken order and placed a hand on their mediums, beginning their search for the enemy party.

"Contact us the moment either of you find their location." Hei told them, and then began to lead Suou and Mao outside.

But before he even made it two steps, July spoke to him. "Found them." He said surprisingly.

"What, already?" Mao questioned, quite bewildered because it usually took a little time for a Doll to find a target regardless of their medium. "Are they close by?"

"They're at the junkyard." Yin answered, apparently also having found them with what was left of the rain puddles from the previous night.

And after Yin said that, July added on, "Their waiting for you."

Hei, Suou, and Mao exchanged glances when they were told this. If they were waiting for them, that meant they were expecting a fight and had already seen July and Yin's Specters, so they wouldn't have the element of surprise. But at least this time it also meant they wouldn't be trying to run away, and once the battle started there wouldn't be much chance for them to try even if they wanted to.

It would basically come down to the skill and the teamwork on both side, which Amara and Harvey had already shown in their previous encounters with Hei that they were not lacking in either. But of course worrying about any of it at this point would amount to nothing, so Hei just put his mask on over his face and lead Mao and Suou out to attack the Syndicate Contractors.

However, as they left, what they did not know was that there was someone hiding nearby watching them. The person was Irene, using her ability to spy on them from a safe distance. But contrary to what one might assume at first, she was not here on the order of Happy Ending. No, this time, Irene had decided to come here of her own volition in order to make sure everything was going okay on his side.

After Happy Ending had her clean up the corpse of the Contractor somehow killed by the Doll Yin, Irene had become more suspicious of the true motives behind Happy Ending's manipulations. So tonight she had come here to see if she could perhaps figure anything out about Yin that would help her understand the situation surrounding her.

But instead, she had overheard Li and his team talking about hunting people down. With her somewhat working knowledge of the people Happy Ending was manipulating and their current standings to Li, she could hypothesis that the people they were searching for were the two Contractors she helped escape from Li once before already. But the important thing to her now was that she had also overheard Yin say that their targets were waiting for them, meaning they must have had orders from Happy Ending to attack Li tonight.

And yet Irene was not informed in any way from Happy Ending that this was going to occur, which made her automatically believe that he didn't tell her because he didn't want her to go snooping around the scene. And if he didn't want her there, then she felt like that meant that something was going to happen during their confrontation that she wouldn't like.

And because Irene believed that, she began to head toward the junkyard so she could observe the confrontation and if necessary, intervene. Doing so would obviously end her work with Happy Ending, but Irene didn't want to be working for him to begin with, so she didn't even give that fact a passing thought as she made her way to the junkyard.

* * *

As Hei expected, Amara and Harvey had already seen the Surveillance Specters of July and Yin, but since that was exactly what they had wanted, they made no attempt to run or hide. Instead, they both just stood within the junkyard and waited for the arrival of their enemies.

"It's our last chance." Harvey restated that fact. "Let's not blow it."

"Right," Amara replied, taking a tone of upmost seriousness while continuing to gaze down at her cherry red fake nails.

"You ready?" Harvey asked, just checking from earlier.

At this Amara chuckled a bit. "Oh don't worry about me; I'm prepared." She said, grinning at Harvey. "Let 'em come."

As they waited, Amara eyed the two Surveillance Specters coming from a broken glass bottle and a rain puddle. The Dolls' interference were only going to make their job that much more difficult to accomplish, but it wasn't as if they could do anything about it. They needed the Black Reaper to find them easily, so they had put themselves in this place so that the Dolls would find them in a moment. So to win, it would likely be necessary to work together and force the Black Reaper into a corner he couldn't get out of.

They already had a plan on how to accomplish this, but it only worked if everything went the way they needed it to. And since the Black Reaper also had the young girl and the animal possessor on his side, it was difficult to make a perfect plan. They knew it would be difficult, but it now seemed to them that their option to turn around became impossible once the Black Reaper stopped being just a target and pursued them. But tonight the game of cat and mouse would end one way or another. It was their job to make sure they got an optimal result for them. Finally, at that moment, their target appeared at the entrance to the junkyard.

Hei ran in wearing his bullet proof cloak and white mask, but for some reason entered alone, with Suou and Mao nowhere in sight. But Amara and Harvey didn't think about it to be able to notice it as odd, and so they ran forward without hesitation at the Black Reaper and began their assault. Amara pulled out out a few nails from one of her pouches and energized them with her ability. While still at a distance, she threw them at Hei with them aimed at his head.

The energized projectiles with enough strength to pierce steel sliced through the air and flew in a straight line for Hei, but with plenty of time to react, he moved to the left and avoided them. Then, Hei pulled out one of his knives, hooked it onto the end of one of his cables, and slung it across the space between him and the Syndicate Contractors.

But Harvey used his ability and smash the knife into pieces and stop the approach of the cord. However, Hei had actually been expecting that and afterward whipped the already extended cord and got it to wrap around Amara's leg.

"Wha-" Amara was caught off guard, but before she could do anything about it Hei stopped where he pulled the cord back, which threw Amara of her feet.

Then Hei loosened his grip and the cord began to retract toward him, dragging Amara toward him. Harvey attempted to grab her hand, but missed by an inch. But luckily for Amara, with all the breakable objects she had pre-placed across the junkyard ground, she was able to grab a half broken bottle as she slid by it and energize it. She then used it to rip the metal cord and stop her slide only when she was close enough for Hei to take two steps forward and reach for her head to electrocute her.

But before he got close enough, Amara threw the energize broken bottle at Hei's head, forcing him to flip backwards to avoid it. "Bastard," Amara growled at Hei as she stood up, taking out a few metal bits from a pouch and throwing them at Hei close-range.

But Hei rolled to the side and pulled out another knife and threw it. However, rather than pointing the knife at Amara, Hei aimed behind her at the still approaching Harvey, which surprised them both. Harvey had to react with his reflexes and used a Concussion Blast to break this knife as well. However, because of the reflex, Harvey lost his balance and stumbled back to one of the huge piles or junk. He clicked his tongue and began running forward again, but just after he did, he heard a large boom from the side and then it was like the junk wall behind him just exploded and sent a chunk of the pile blew out and hit him in the back, sending him sprawling on his face.

Harvey had to cover his face to keep his glasses from falling off, and then got to his hands and knees to try and figure out what just happened. He looked to where he heard the boom and, in the distance, saw the young Contractor that was always with the Black Reaper.

Hei and the others had come up with this plan on the way here. They knew it would be difficult to combat the two of them working as a team; so Suou and Mao circled around to another entrance of the junkyard and now had Suou shooting from a distance. This way, the Syndicate Contractors would have to split their focus and hopefully split up just to try and cover the problem, which would essentially cut the difficulty of defeating them in half.

And it showed to work like a charm immediately as Amara shouted out from noticing Suou, "Harvey, take the sniper!" She yelled as an order.

Harvey could already tell this was all part of the Black Reaper's plan, and he was sure Amara could tell as well. But it unfortunately didn't matter because one way or the other, they now had attacks from two sides they had to handle. Whether they stayed together or split up, neither option would put them in a less disadvantageous position. And because of that knowledge, Harvey didn't argue or comment, and began running toward the sniper girl.

At the same time, Amara kept her focus completely on the Black Reaper in front of her. As she faced off against him, she pulled out two nails and fired them one after another. Hei moved his upper body just enough to avoid both nails and then threw a knife at Amara, but she also avoided the projectile weapon by beginning to run around the Black Reaper while keeping some distance.

In truth, both combatants were trying to keep some distance between one another because Amara knew that if she got within arm's length of the Black Reaper, the battle could be over in a second. But on the other side of things, Hei realized that the closer he got to Amara, the harder it would be to dodge her energized projectiles.

Both of them were analyzing every move they should make while trying not to open themselves up to an attack. It was a strategic battle this time with them one-on-one, and the battle would likely be decided by whoever landed the first blow. They both knew that too, which only made them think about each of their moves twice as carefully.

* * *

Meanwhile, Harvey was approaching Suou as fast as he could while she began to reload another bullet into her rifle. Harvey ran straight for her, which was strange since she was using a long ranged precision weapon. But still she finished loading her rifle and pointed it back at Harvey, at which point July spoke to her. "Six centimeters to the right."

Suou did exactly that and fired the bullet. But at the same time as she pulled the trigger, Harvey shot off a Concussion Blast from his hand at the gun barrel, which allowed it to collide with the anti-tank bullet and actually stopped it in mid-air with the sheer force of the blast. It did surprise Suou some, but that didn't change their plan any, all they really needed to do here was hold Harvey back until Hei knocked out Amara. And of course, Suou wasn't fighting Harvey alone.

When Harvey started getting close, he noticed a figure begin moving from behind some junk to the side toward him. He looked to the side only to see a black panther charging him with a roar. The suddenness of the attack and surprise of it being a panther left Harvey with a delayed reaction, although it did bring back the fact that the Black Reaper did have a comrade that could possess animals.

Mao clawed Harvey's right arm before he got it together enough and knocked him back with a Concussion Blast to his belly from his free left hand. "Mao!" Suou called to make sure he was alright.

Mao quickly got back up and growled at Harvey while Suou loaded another bullet into her gun. In a second decision, Harvey turned back toward Suou and threw another blast at her to try to knock down one of his problems, but the moment he started, July realized what he was going to do and warned Suou, which allowed her to dive to the side and get out of the way before he shot.

It got even worse for Harvey after that, because Mao was able to run up lightning fast from behind him and pounced onto him and clawed his back, pushing him down to the ground. Harvey turned himself over to see Mao right over him, already beginning another strike over him, but this time he reacted faster and blasted him away again.

Harvey got to his feet, but just as he did, Suou fired her gun just a bit behind him, and the forced knocked him back off his feet again, keeping him from being able to really do anything.

* * *

And while all this was going on, Irene was watching the whole thing from on top a pile of junk half-way between the two fights. And she was ready to jump in faster than the drop of a hat if she saw anything she didn't like the look of. If Irene felt for even a second things were going to far against Li, she would jump into this fight and knock down Amara and Harvey. She wasn't sure what would happen after that, but she didn't care so long as Li was safe.

With her sword already drawn, Irene muttered to herself while looking over at Li fighting Amara. "Come on, finish this already, Li..."

* * *

Standing about 3 meters away from each other, Hei held two of his metal cords with knives attached to the ends and swung them around to try and get either a cord wrapped around her or a knife stabbed into her in order to use his ability to shock her unconscious. But as long as she paid enough attention and moved fast enough, she could avoid them all. And at the same time, Amara was constantly throwing energized projectiles at the Black Reaper, which he had to continuously dodge one after another.

Hei took one of the cords and slung it straight forward with the knife on the end at Amara, who stepped to the side and pulled out three nails. She energized them, but before she threw them, she heard a strange clanging sound behind her when the Black Reaper let the cord begin to slink back. Confused she looked back to see the knife stabbed into an old microwave just as it got dragged into the back of her legs to knock her down.

She feel on her back, dropped the energized nails in her hand, and then Hei moved in for the finishing blow. He kicked the microwave off his knife let both cords snap back as he stretched his hand down to grab Amara's head. However, she wasn't about to lose just yet.

Amara swiftly pulled her legs up to her chest between her and the Black Reaper, and that kicked him in the chest knock him down as well. "Nice try, Black Reaper!" Amara shouted while pulling out a few metal nicks out, energizing and throwing them at Hei without even getting to her feet first.

But Hei quickly rolled out of the way and got back to his feet. He then threw one of the corded knives at Amara's shoulder, but she did the same thing and rolled to the side. As she did, she put her fist out and smashed a bottle for a quick Obeisance before getting to her feet as well.

However, when she got to her feet her back was to her target, and when she turned around he was already right there with his fist hurling toward her face. She just barely ducked backward enough to dodge it, and then she quickly picked up her leg and threw it at the Black Reaper's side while pulling a few eraser bits out. As she energized them, her kick connected, but instead of being thrown to the side, the Black Reaper held his ground and then grabbed her leg, readying his ability.

But at that moment Amara threw her projectiles straight at his face, forcing him to let go before he could electrocute her and roll to the side again. But this only ended them pretty much back where they started with no one having gotten any closer to beating the other. The two fighters stared each other down again while contemplating what they should do next to try and bring about their victory. But Hei also realized something.

Close combat may be his best shot at beating Amara. Just now he realized when he got in close and attacked, she had simply reacted by throwing her leg at him, which gave him an opportunity to electrocute her if she hadn't already had projectiles at the ready. If he could get in close once more, he knew he would be able to end this.

* * *

Harvey got to his feet again and shot a Concussion Blast at the approaching Panther. Mao pounced to the side to avoid it, but Harvey began a continuous string of the blasts in an attempt to knock the animal possessor out. But Mao sprinted around in zig-zags to avoid them while also trying to get up close to strike him down. At the same time, Suou quickly reloaded her rifle, but Harvey wasn't simply ignoring her as she did.

Using his free hand, Harvey pulled out the flashlight he bought earlier and put his glasses up with a finger to shine the light into his eyes for just a second and then dropped the light, and pointed his hand at Suou, shooting off a blast at her between blasts from his other hand at Mao.

Suou was caught by surprise and put her rifle up in the way of the blast, but the force still knocked her on her back and the rifle out of her hand. "Suou!" Mao shouted out while continuing to dodge Harvey's blasts.

Mao changed his movement suddenly to try and tackle Harvey down and give Suou a chance to get back on her feet, but it turned out to be a grave mistake. When Mao began moving in for Harvey, he was hoping the sudden change in his motion pattern would throw him, but instead he almost seemed to have seen it coming and struck Mao with a Concussion Blast instantly directly in his head, throwing him backwards and knocking him unconscious.

Suou hurried to grab her rifle again, but before she reached it, a Concussion Blast came from behind her and knocked her weapon away. Suou turned to face Harvey, having lost the chance to regain leverage in the fight. "Looks like we'll get out of this after all." Harvey said as he raised his hand to Suou.

Suou wasn't sure what those words meant, but she wasn't really thinking about that as Harvey readied one last Concussion Blast to knock her down, after which he would then go to attack Hei, who was still fighting Amara. But just as Harvey would shot the invisible blast from his hand, a metal pipe suddenly came almost out of nowhere and struck Harvey's wrist, which knocked his aim down and the blast only hit the ground.

"What the -" Harvey began, but he didn't finish because when he looked to the side where the metal pipe came from, he saw a certain woman he just barely knew who was already right next to him with Lancelnopt radiation around her body.

Irene Baltar, the woman who used to know the Black Reaper and was hired by Happy Ending as a mercenary-for-hire after she became a Contractor. She had even helped him and Amara escape from the Black Reaper's pursuit not too long ago. He would have wondered why she was here if he had had enough time to actually put it into thought; but before he could even do that, Irene threw her fist into Harvey's cheek, making stumble backwards.

And in less than a second after that, she brought up her leg and smashed it into Harvey's neck. With that he was smashed into the ground with incredible force that made him lose consciousness. Suou was extremely confused now, seeing the woman she had a close encounter with earlier that same day suddenly swoop in and save her life.

"Are you alright, Suou?" Irene asked, referring to Suou by name like a friend.

"What are you doing?" Suou asked Irene, trying to figure out what just happened.

"I'll tell you later; there's still one more to deal with." Irene said, and then used her super-enhanced speed to run toward Li and Amara, who were so busy with their fight that they hadn't even notice her show up.

Amara pulled out projectile after projectile and threw them at the Black Reaper to keep him on his toes until she could get an opening while he was dodging them all trying to figure out a way to get in close again. Hei threw out a cord from his belt in the hopes it would stop her rapid attack long enough for him to act.

Sure enough, in order to avoid the metal cord, Amara jumped to the side and also smashed her fist down on another glass bottle. Hei began moving in at that moment, but after he took just one step he saw someone approaching from behind her that made him stop in his tracks. Amara took out another couple nails and prepared to throw them, but before she could she got a heavy blow to the back of the neck that knocked her unconscious before she even knew what hit her, and fell flat onto the ground.

Hei looked from Amara on the ground back up to Irene who had done it, but then got defensive since she was supposed to be enemy. "Why did you-"

"I'm not here to attack you." Irene said hurriedly. "I want to help you."

But Hei wasn't nearly convinced. For all he knew this was some kind of ploy devised to get him with his guard down, no matter how unlikely that seemed to be. "Why would you help me? Aren't you working for Happy Ending?" He questioned.

"Not anymore. I don't want to fight you anymore."

"What do you mean by that? You're a Contractor right; so it shouldn't matter who you-"

"I'm nobodies' puppet!" Irene suddenly shouted in anger to cut Hei off. "After the night I first attacked you, I realized that everything that had happened to me that day had all been planned out by Happy Ending purposefully for his own purposes." She began to explain, which intrigued Hei some. "We didn't meet at the supermarket that day by coincident, Li. He had these two put a note on my door to go there at that time, and then that night had another of his subordinates take me to him just before I became a Contractor."

"He planned it all?" Hei questioned. "How could he have possibly have known you would become a Contractor that day?"

"I don't know, I never asked." Irene answered. "But he admitted to it, and so I warned him right then and there that if his plans ever brought harm to you or anyone around you, I would kill him."

Hei found that very hard to believe, that she would go so far for his sake. "Why would you do that?"

"Hei," Suou interrupted, having come over from Mao and Harvey. "I think we can trust her." She said, a pleading expression on her face as she did.

"Suou?" Hei said questionably.

"I didn't tell you before, but during the mission this morning when she attacked me, she asked me questions about you." She told Hei. "She even cried when I told her about how you couldn't go through with killing Yin and saved her instead. She was so happy to hear that you weren't heartless like other Contractors.

"She cares about you Hei, really."

With Suou saying all of that in defense of of Irene, Hei looked at Irene who looked like she was nervously awaiting his verdict of whether he thought he could trust her. "Li, even if you never thought of me as one, _you're_ still _my_ friend." She said as a final comment.

She meant it to, and it was really enough to make Hei believe it. "Alright, but what are you going to do now?" He asked.

"I don't know; I hadn't thought that far ahead. All I could think about was protecting you." Irene told them. "But what about you; you were after these two right?" She asked, looking down at Amara and over at Harvey. "What were you going to do?"

"Hand them over to the CIA for interrogation about the Syndicate." Hei answered. "We're working for a woman named Oreille , and she's hoping to use these two to bring down what remains of the Syndicate organization before they become a big problem like they used to be."

"Hei," Suou chimed in. "Maybe Irene could come with us." She said, slightly surprising both of them. "She's the one who caught Harvey and Amara. I'm sure if we explained everything to Madam Oreille, she wouldn't object; and after all she only wants to help you."

Irene looked at Suou with a gapping mouth. She never expected to be offered to come with them, but since she had no plan to go on after this, it would be great if she could. Even more surprising, before Irene even finished thinking about it, Hei took off his mask asked her a question. "Well, how about it?"

Now Irene turned to gape at Li. She was so surprised by their willingness to accept her after everything she had done so far that it took her a moment to process it. But once she had, tears began forming in he eyes and she smiled at Li, and nodded her head. "Alright," She said, and then looked to Suou. "Thank you."

But Suou shook her head. "No, thank you for helping us." She told Irene.

"Alright, let's wake up Mao and get these two to Oreille." Hei said, and they began moving to do so.

This was a strange and sudden change in the order of things, but maybe with Irene, along with the captured Amara and Harvey, Hei and the others would finally be able to track down this 'Happy Ending' and find out once and for all just what it is he is trying to accomplish.


	18. Antagonists

_Chapter 18: Antagonists_

It was 4:15 AM in Tokyo on August 24. It was at this time that something very unusual and bizarre happened in the false starry sky. Ever since the appearance of the Gate's and the false stars, space travel became impossible, and so it was also widely unknown for anything to fall out of the sky, though there had been a few reported cases of such a thing occurring. Today was one of those times, as from beyond the dark of the night, something appeared amongst the stars. It appeared there, and then grew larger and closer until it was obvious that it was no longer in the sky.

The thing fell and struck the ground of Tokyo in a park area, and with its impact carved its way deep into the ground, making a large crater. The impact had been so great that small flames now burned inside the crater and smoke and dust lifted into the air. But this in itself was not the most distressing part. The truly distressing part of this event was that, from the crater, two human silhouettes emerged and stood in the darkness of the night.

The enigmatic figures stood and looked at each other. Those two had come here for very specific reasons, but who they were and what those reasons were, remained as shrouded as their faces as they walked away from the crater to prepare.

* * *

It was nearing noon, and at this time two people sat in chairs on one side of a table in an interrogation room while having handcuffs on their wrists. The two people were the Syndicate Contractors Harvey Baxter and Amara Parker. Having been captured by the Black Reaper because of a certain Contractor that was supposed to be on their side, they were now in the custody of CIA, and currently awaiting the person that would interrogate them to enter the room.

And due to how dangerous these two Contractors were, two men were currently standing behind them with machine guns pointed at them, ready to pull the trigger should they try anything to try and escape, although with the removal of anything Amara could use as a projectile, it only truly left worry about Harvey and his Concussion Blasts.

While waiting for their interrogator, Amara was tapping her nails on the table in annoyance and boredom. Finally, the door to the room opened and a woman with blonde hair walked in with three files tucked under her arm and sat down on the other side of the table. Setting the files down on the table, the woman began to speak.

"Amara and Harvey Baxter." Oreille noted both their names and took two of the files to lay them out on the table, showing them to be their own files. "Moved to Setagaya, Tokyo from the United States three years ago, and neither of you ever had a record. Then 18 months ago both of you drop off the map without a trace. Who would have thought you ended up Contractor's working for the Syndicate?"

"Cut to the chase," Amara cut in. "You want information right? Where's the Syndicate hideout, how big it is and who's running it? That sound about right to you?" She questioned, getting straight to the point.

Oreille chuckled at Amara's directness and looked at her. "And I suppose you would be willing to just give it to me, wouldn't you?"

"Well, as a Contractor, I should be ready to turn my back against the Syndicate at the drop of a hat if it means I get out with the least amount of trouble." Amara commented, looking directly at Oreille like she was peering into her soul for something.

"'Should be ready'?" Oreille hooked on to Amara's choice of words.

Here, Harvey interjected. "Well it all depends on the deal we can get, I guess. We can easily sell out all the information we have about the Syndicate to you, but until you take them down for sure, they'd be after us."

"So what's it gonna be, Copper? What can you offer us for our cooperation?" Amara finished up, and then leaned back in her chair, continuing to tap her fingernails on the tabletop as she waited for an answer.

Before giving one, Oreille looked down to the third file she had brought in with her aside from theirs, and placed one hand on top of it. "The protection until everything is said and done is a given." She told them, ensuring they would keep them out of harm's way if they told them what they wanted to know. "But, that's not all I'm putting on the table."

Becoming interested, Amara and Harvey looked at the file. "What is it?" Harvey asked.

"Information the two of you may find interesting." Oreille answered vaguely.

"What kind of information could you have that we would care enough about to risk our lives against the Syndicate?" Harvey questioned, pondering the contents of the file while Amara continued to stare at Oreille, her eyes now like a death glare, threatening.

Holding the file up in her hand, Oreille told them, "Well, it involves your employers - the Syndicate; your target - BK-201; and most significantly... your daughter."

With those words, a trigger was pulled. Those last words were not just unexpected, they were unprecedented, unexplainable, and inexcusable. Harvey straightened some in his chair at those words and looked to Amara. He saw her eyes grow wider and her face tense. He knew what her reaction would be, and in a way, he was relying on it in this instance.

Amara slammed her hands flat onto the table and bolted up from her chair, which caused the armed agents behind her to ready their guns at her back, although Oreille, as if expecting this exact reaction, held up her free hand to tell them there was no worry.

Amara screamed at Oreille. "What the _hell_ does our daughter that died 12 years ago have to do with anything!?"

But despite Amara's display of rage, Oreille remained calm. "More than you have ever imagined possible." She replied. "For starters, she didn't die 12 years ago; you were just forced to think she was at the time."

At those words, both Harvey and Amara froze where they were. Oreille's words held a hidden meaning they were meant to understand right away, which they did. She said that their daughter's death was something they were _forced_ to believe _at the time_. It subtly implied that the reason they were forced to think that was something that only affected them back then, and was something that at that time, was necessary to keep secret from the public.

The answer that immediately came to mind was... "Are you trying to tell us... that she became a Contractor?" Amara said, attempting to keep her voice steady as she spoke.

"Exactly," Oreille said. "I had thought it was strange when I first gathered your information that, even though she died before you came to Japan, there wasn't anything on your daughter except for her existence. Not even her name was listed. I became suspicious and started digging, and when I got deep enough, I found out that she had become a Contractor; but that wasn't all.

"With her identity as a Contractor realized, I also discovered an unexpected link to BK-201."

By now, Oreille officially had Amara and Harvey's attention. Just the idea that their daughter had lived was mind-braking, but she was even a Contractor who according to Oreille, had a connection the the Black Reaper, a man they had attempted to kill on multiple occasions over the last few weeks on the orders of Happy Ending whose true motive still remained a mystery to them.

To show her intent to listen, Amara lowered herself back into her chair steadily, and the agents behind her relaxed their weapons some. "What kind of 'link'?"

So Oreille began to explain. "It took some digging around, but I discovered that after your daughter became a Contractor, she became part of the same Syndicate you work under. Then, during the Heaven's War, she was part of a team that included BK-201." With this piece of information, Oreille set the file in her hand down on the table in front of Amara and Harvey, turned it around to face them, and then opened it up so they could see it and the picture attached of a young woman with big red hair. "Carmine Baxter. She was a most feared Contractor who went by the code name: 'Havoc'"

* * *

Back at the house, Mao finally woke up from being knocked out by Harvey during the fighting the night before. Since he had been unconscious for the rest of the event, he was shocked to find Irene Baltar in the house with them. After explaining everything that happened and Irene's reasons, which alone was difficult for Mao to grasp, the group got down to the final matter they needed to address with Irene concerning Happy Ending.

"Alright Irene, what can you tell us about Happy Ending?" Hei asked her.

"To be honest, not a whole lot." Irene answered regrettably. "What I do know is that he seems to be in control of some 'Syndicate', which means he has no shortage of people to send after you."

But in response to this, The team was thrown into confusion. "He's _in control_ of the Syndicate; are you sure?" Mao questioned.

When they originally asked Amara about who put the hit on him, he was told that the man known as Happy Ending contacted the boss of the Syndicate to set it up, not that Happy Ending was the boss.

A bit confused why that was so important, Irene replied, "Yeah, pretty sure. I mean those two Contractors work for him, and their Syndicate right?"

"But we were told by them that Happy Ending was someone who just contacted the Syndicate who put a hit on me." Mao explained.

"Maybe circumstances have changed since then." Irene suggested with a shrug. "But that's not the most important thing I know about him; the real zinger is that the guy is a Contractor just like us." Irene told them, which surprised them just as much as she expected.

"A Contractor!?" Hei almost shouted.

"The guy calling the shots is a Contractor?" Mao also said.

There was a reason that since Contractors first appeared, they were gathered to work under administrated organizations. The reason was that, with their powers, they were too dangerous to leave alone out in public with ordinary people, whom they could easily slaughter. But beyond this, there was also a reason why there was never any organization that involved the use of Contractors had a Contractor as their leader. Section 3, CIA, MI-6, and the Syndicate up until apparently now had a regular human act as the boss of any organization that used Contractors because Contractors could not be trusted with such a position.

Especially before irregular Contractors appeared, since Contractors only did what was best for them, if there was a Contractor put in charge of an organization and he was captured by an enemy,they could be easily compelled to give everything up to them without feeling anything of it with just a simple threat. Because of that, Contractors were never put in positions of authority.

But this man, Happy Ending, was a Contractor that not only possessed a position at the top of an organization, but was the most likely person they felt to be the mastermind who orchestrated all the recent events surrounding them for a personal cause. Even talking about irregular contractors who would act for personal agendas, something like that was hard to imagine.

"Yeah, he had said so himself." Irene told them, assuring her information was correct.

"Do you know what his power is?" Sou asked.

"Unfortunately no." Irene answered. "He never used his power around me; the only reason I know he is a Contractor is because I was in the same room as him when he told his other two subordinates that he was one."

"But you have met with him in person?" Hei asked. "Could you tell us what he looks like?"

"Yeah sure. Hell, if I used my power to increase my memory precision and drawing capability I could draw you a perfect sketch. He was half a head taller than me, had long silver hair, blue eyes, and was always wearing a black trench coat. Pretty noteworthy I'd say, but not so outlandish that he couldn't blend into the crowd."

"Let's have you draw that sketch too," Mao suggested. "If we give it to Madam Oreille, she could get the CIA to keep a lookout for him."

"Good idea Mao." Hei agreed.

"No problem, got some paper and a pencil?" Irene asked as she sat down at the table.

After getting the paper and pencil, Irene used her ability and began drawing at an increasingly fast pace. In less than two minutes she was done and ended the use of her power, handing Hei a beautifully drawn portrait of Happy Ending. Hei took the picture and studied it to learn the man's face while Irene stood and grabbed a beer can she had purchased the night before to fulfill Obeisance from the fridge.

She opened the can and began pouring the beer into the sink next to her. "And one last thing," She added. "Not including all the Syndicate he controls, there is one last person that directly works for him I've met. It seems like he's Happy Ending's right-hand man."

Hearing this, Hei set the drawing of Happy Ending on the table and looked at Irene. At the same time July looked at Irene while masking his hidden knowledge. He already knew who this 'right-hand man' of December's was, it was the same man who had first come to him and brought him into this story. "Who is it?" Hei asked Irene.

The beer can emptied and Irene dropped it in the sink as she answered. "His name is August."

* * *

'Havoc'. Amara and Harvey had been within the Syndicate for 18 months, so they had at least heard tales of that dreaded Contractor and what she had done in South America almost 14 years ago now. But of course there was no way that either one of them would have ever even humored the idea that the most feared Contractor in all of history, who they only knew by the name 'Havoc', could have possibly been their daughter Carmine.

Learning this, Harvey was actually shaking and speechless in shock; so much so that he didn't even look over to Amara to see that her expression actually contrasted to his. Amara still had a look of set focus and attention, like this news didn't faze her at all.

"Unfortunately though, this is not the end of the story." Oreille spoke up again after a moment to let the knowledge so far sink in.

Amara and Harvey looked back up at Oreille in response to this and Harvey asked a question without time to try and keep an erratic shaking from his voice. "What do you mean, 'unfortunately'?"

"If this were the end of the story, that might mean your daughter, who didn't die when you were originally lead to believe, might still be alive even today." Oreille explained. "I'm sorry to tell you this just after learning about all this, but that is not the case. In the end, your daughter still ends up dead."

It was hard to hear, but having long since accepted Carmine's 'death' years early, hearing that she was still dead today was a much lesser pain. "So what did happen?" Amara asked, her voice full of conviction.

Hearing that tone now, Harvey's attention was taken by her for him to realize just how well Amara seemed to be taking this. He thought she would be worse off than him; so furious that she would be practically crushing the interrogation table in her hands. But for seem reason, that was nowhere near the case.

He might have said something if it weren't for their current circumstances, but before he even would have had the chance, Madam Oreille continued the story of Havoc. "Carmine - 'Havoc' - became a Regressor after the Heaven's War, losing her powers and reportedly a significant piece of her memory. She vanished for a time, but was finally found by the British Intelligence Service, MI-6, and brought to PANDORA.

"After several tests..." Oreille continued, but neither Amara or Harvey were paying attention anymore.

Both instantly became fixed on the term MI-6. Literally just the day before, when they had attacked the Black Reaper during the Parade, they were attacked by another man who had told them he was an agent of that very organization. That meant that the man they fought against, who had called himself August 7, might have known something about their daughter.

But realizing they had lost track of Oreille's speech, they refocused on her words. "...BK-201 had taken Havoc to the gate in hopes of restoring her power." Oreille was saying. "And from what I understand from reports written by the Police about the incident, he had succeeded.

"Havoc had regained her Contractor powers and was about to make a getaway with BK-201, but there she was killed by MI-6's top agent: November 11."

Oreille ended her story and paused to allow the two in front of her to take it all in. After a moment of silence, Amara took a deep breathe and asked, "And what of this November 11?"

Looking to Amara, Oreille gave her the answer to that. "He died soon after. Killed when he attacked his own superiors for unknown reasons."

Harvey was surprised to hear something like that about a Contractor. He was about to comment on it, but before he could, Amara began speaking again. "I see, then that's all I need to know." She said.

Hearing that, Oreille smiled. "Should I take that to mean you will-"

"Harvey..." Amara interrupted Oreille to address her partner, who looked at her and waited for her to continued. "...duck." When that word was spoken, Harvey's eyes, as well as Oreille's and the agents' behind them went wide with surprise and expectation of what it entailed.

At the same time, Amara's body was covered in Lancelnopt radiation which meant she was activating her ability, even though the CIA had taken away anything she could use as a projectile. But Harvey, heading Amara's warning, threw his head down onto the table as she stood up quickly and pulled her arms apart in her handcuffs.

Showing an amazing feat of strength that probably also involved some kind of specific motion and positioning, Amara actually broke the chain linking her cuffs together to free her hands and spread them out behind her at the armed agents with guns. when her hands came into their views, they noticed her nails strangely lit up like her energized projectiles; but before they could understand what this meant and react to it, the fake nails that Amara had purchased and glued lightly to her hands flew off and shot into the two armed men like bullets.

The force of the energized projectiles caused the two men to stumble back into the wall and drop to the ground. "Harvey!" Amara shouted at her partner to get him to act as well.

Having understood what just happened enough not to be stunned still, Harvey stood up as well and held his hands forward pointed at Oreille who was hurriedly getting to her feet in shock while pulling a pistol from her back. Before she could do anything with it, Harvey used his power to shot a Concussion Blast at her head, which violently struck her into the one-way mirror behind her and knocked her out cold.

Having done that, Harvey twisted his body and quickly did the same thing the two two agents on the ground before they could recover to shot them back. Immediately after that, Harvey turned to curse out Amara. "What the hell!? Did you plan for this when-"

"Escape now, explanation later!" Amara interrupted Harvey as she grabbed a machine gun from one of the unconscious agents.

Still angry, Harvey accepted that premise and took the other agent's machine gun for himself. In a hurry, Amara took her machine gun and shot down the one-way mirror without hitting Oreille. Once she had done that, the two Contractors jumped out of the interrogation room and began running to make an incredibly daring escape attempt from a CIA building.

But as they went, Amara did say one last thing. "Thank you, CIA woman."

* * *

"August!?" Hei shouted back the name to Irene to make sure she was sure that was who it was.

Just yesterday, August 7 had assaulted him, saying he was here under orders from the MI-6 to capture him. And yet now Irene was saying that the very same August was apparently working for this Happy Ending.

Hei's reaction made Irene jump, but she confirmed. "Y-yeah, long blonde hair, red coat, top hat, and is a Contractor that uses magic as an ability. What's wrong?"

To this, Mao answered. "What's wrong is that that man is an agent of the MI-6; a law enforcement organization! Why would he be working for someone using an underground organization like the Syndicate?"

"Moreover, August attacked me yesterday during the Parade, saying he was sent by the MI-6 to capture me!" Hei added, which greatly shocked Irene.

"He what!?" She shouted. "I didn't know anything about that; I swear. Happy Ending told me I had to stall Suou for just a bit and then I left, but I didn't know he gave August a mission like that."

"More to the point, if August really is working for Happy Ending, why would he lie about it and say he was sent by the MI-6?" Mao questioned.

And when he did pose that question, his, Hei's, and Suou's eyes all suddenly turned to July, who sat with a slight expression of surprise over the turn this conversation had taken. He found quite possible that the questioned they were now going to ask him, he would have to reveal the fact that Happy Ending is December. Of course, if he was forced to tell them, that meant it was simply what December had planned and wanted from the beginning.

"July, did you know about this?" Suou asked him, not wanting to believe it.

July tried to think whether he should answer that truthfully or not. On one hand, he had already lied and said that it was likely August's attack on Hei was because the MI-6 had discovered his own return and wanted to get him back. But on the other hand, if he tried to lie now, they might still be suspicious, especially since they were aware he knew the identity of the mastermind and simply said it was best not to divulge it yet.

However, it seemed that in trying to make the decision, July waited to long to answer, because Hei then came out with a new question. "July, I'm going to as you something, and I need you to tell me the truth: Is Happy Ending the mastermind behind all of this?"

Irene did not know July's circumstances with the MI-6 or with the mastermind, so she wasn't sure why everyone so readily turned on him, but decided to keep quiet until they were done and figure it out after. Meanwhile July looked from Hei, to Mao, to Yin, to Suou trying to decide his answer.

Feeling nowhere else to go, July took a deep breath and faced Hei to give him the answer he could no longer keep a secret. "Yes. And his true identity is that of the former MI-6 agent: December 31."

* * *

Miraculously escaping the CIA building with the use of the stolen machine guns and their skills, Amara and Harvey ran until they were sure they had fully escaped pursuit. After catching their breath, Harvey asked the question he had tried to ask the first time. "Okay, what the hell, Amara? Did you plan this out when you bought those fake nails?"

Now with time to answer, Amara explained everything to Harvey. "Yes. When Happy Ending gave us this mission and told us that if we failed we wouldn't be getting any help, I could tell that meant he knew we would fail. Given how he's been with us so far, he only suggests anything when it will actually happen."

Looking back on it, Harvey realized that Amara was actually right. When Happy Ending sent the two of them to steal the Black Reaper's file from the CIA, Amara asked what they should do if they got caught since they weren't allowed to use their powers. Without hesitation his answer was to run. Just the fact that he had suggested they might need to run, coming from him, was an indication that they would end up having to.

And also when they were found and chased by the Black Reaper at night, he had told them that they had to try and escape, which, even though he had called specifically to help them escape, he seemed sure they would do successfully. Following Amara's logic now, Harvey finally understood why she had broke their phone after receiving their orders. Since Happy Ending had said that if they were caught he would not help them, it meant they would no longer need the phone if they were, which Amara could tell they would because he had suggested it.

Using that information, Amara had purchased the fake nails and made them look as real as possible so that when they were taken into CIA interrogation, she would have one last means of attack. "But if you realized we would be captured, why did you just say something so we could just run."

"Because I'm an irregular Contractor, and I wanted to know just what it was Happy Ending thought we had to gain from helping him. I'd say we got out answer."

Indeed, Harvey agreed. The information on their daughter was something they both found unbelievably valuable to them, but with her dead anyways, he wasn't so sure they had actually 'gained' anything yet. "So... what do we do now?"

"That's easy," Amara said, standing up straight with the machine gun still in her hand. "We go find Happy Ending."

* * *

It was now 5:53 PM. Hearing about the commotion at the CIA building, a team of agents came in to check exactly how much damage had been done. And the leader of this group went in and search for a specific person inside. Knocked out in the interrogation room, this man found Madam Oreille, and leaned down to wake her up.

When she finally regained consciousness, she groaned and opened her eyes to see the man who had been sent here. But when she did, she gasped with surprise and sat up to look at him more directly. She had not forgotten that mans features, his dim brown hair, his cold demeanor, or his dark red sunglasses over his eyes, one of which had a scar over it. "John Smith!?" She breathed the CIA man's named.

Her reaction even made John Smith laugh. "Well hello to you too, Madam. How have you been?"

* * *

The end of the day was nearing, and so Misaki and the other members of Section 3 were about to pack up and leave for the day. However, before they did, a secretary came up to them in a bit of a hurry. "Excuse me Section 3." She spoke to them.

"Yes, what is it?" Goro asked her, as she appeared to be somewhat rushed on the matter at hand.

"I am sorry to bother you, but there are people here who wish to speak with you."

"Who?" Misaki asked, wondering who these people were that were forcing a meeting onto them this late in the day.

"That would be us." From behind the secretary, a man answered Misaki while walking up to the Section 3 members.

Following behind him were two women, one of which was actually a young teen. "And who are you?" Misaki asked the man dressed in a snazzy dark-colored business suit.

Extending his hand out in greeting, the man answered Misaki. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Misaki Kirihara. I am January; of the MI-6."

* * *

Within the warehouse he used as a base with August there with hi,. December sat in a chair, relaxing with his feet up on the table in front of him. As he sat, his lips suddenly shifted into a smirk, and he gave a soft laugh that August just barely caught. "Hm, what is it, Happy Ending? Did something amuse you just now?" August asked December, interested to know.  
"Indeed," December answered, and then took his feet off the table and stood up to face August as he told him what just happened. "I am glad to announce that the Antagonists... have arrived."


	19. December

_Chapter 19: December_

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Misaki Kirihara. I am January; of the MI-6." January, a middle-aged man with dirty blonde hair, introduced himself while offering his hand to Misaki. He was wearing a snazzy, navy blue business suit that suggested he was very professional. Awkwardly, Misaki put her hand in January's to shake, but she was so dazed it was basically by instinct that she did so. "These are my associates, March and May."

January motioned to the two women behind him, who waved and nodded to Section 3 in turn. March was a woman about Misaki's age with shoulder length brunette hair and wore far more personalized outfit than January. She wore a tiger print T-shirt under a small, sleeveless fox fur jacket, snakeskin pants cut off above the knees, and leather boots. On her right was young girl with long blonde hair wearing a light blue sundress and for some reason had bandages on all of her fingers.

Every member of Section 3 present here had had dealings with the MI-6 before, whether direct or indirect, and it was for this reason that all of them knew one thing about these three without even needing to ask. They were not ordinary humans; it was obvious to all of them due to their previous dealings with their group that January and March were Contractors, and May was a Doll.

Of course at the moment, the group were less concerned with who they were, and more concerned with why they were here. They even knew that August 7 of their group was here already, so it seemed strange that more would come and approach Section 3 directly like this.

"I can see by your faces you are wondering why we are here." January spoke, breaking the Section 3 members out of their respective trances.

"I'd also like to ask why you have come here in such a manner, without any form of notice?" Goro added.

"We do apologize for the inconvenience," March answered. "But due to the circumstances of our visit, it was imperative that we arrive as quickly as possible."

"What kind of circumstances?" Goro questioned the details.

Taking in a breathe before speaking, January gave the answer. "Yesterday, our management received a call from CIA agent: Madam Oreille." He began, which got Section 3 to focus even more. "Her call was to question the presence of one of our agents, August 7, during a scene involving Contractors in a circus parade and her own men; we understand that he also made contact with two of you. We'd like to ask you about that encounter."

"What?" Misaki was confused by this. "Why? If you need to know something, couldn't you easily speak with August directly?"

"No actually, we cannot." January said. "You see, August 7 has been out of contact with MI-6 for the past 6 weeks, and we have had absolutely no clues as to his whereabouts until now."

"What!?" Misaki gasped.

"If he wasn't here on MI-6 orders, what was he here for?" Hazuki asked.

"Well, that's what we're hoping you can help us figure out, if you can answer a few questions for us." March answered. "You're Mina Hazuki?"

"Yes," Hazuki answered and stepped forward next to Misaki.

Before January began asking them questions, he walked back a bit and put his hand on May's shoulder for some reason. "You were the only two who meet August that day, correct?" January asked them.

"That's right," Hazuki answered, then waited for the next question.

However, instead January shifted his gaze to Misaki as if waiting for her answer. "May I ask both of you to give me answers?"

"Huh; what's the point?" Misaki wondered.

"Just answer, please." January told her.

Misaki exchanged a confused glance with Hazuki and looked back to January. "We were the only two there." She said.

"Very good, now then, did August do or say anything that seemed unusual?" January asked them.

"The whole meeting was unusual." Hazuki explained. "He suddenly appeared in the back seat of our car and told us that BK-201 was nearby, who at the time we were unaware was working for the CIA."

"And the moment we had eyes on BK-201, August vanished." Misaki finished.

"But specifically, did anything stand out over the rest of his actions?" January asked again.

"No, nothing was overly bizarre in that aspect." Hazuki said.

However, for Misaki, there was the note August left for her concerning the term 'Happy Ending'. But she also had to remember she wasn't supposed to let Hazuki know about it. It did seemed likely that given the circumstances, August might have left that message for her with the intention it get to these MI-6 agents, expecting them to come when they learned of his presence here; but she wouldn't be able to tell them about it with Hazuki here.

"And you?" January asked Misaki again. "Did you think there was anything August did that was particularly out of place?"

Misaki looked at January and took a breathe before answering. "No, nothing seemed to stand out." She said.

"She's lying." But suddenly, the MI-6 Doll, May, spoke up in accusation of Misaki's answer.

In reaction, everyone in the room turned and looked at her with surprise; that is, except for January and March, whose eyes were now both directed at Misaki as if they were anticipating what she would do next.

It was true Misaki was lying, but how could May have possibly known that? "What- what is she talking about? Misaki asked January and March while attempting to hide her nervousness at being accused. But it was only made worse because she suddenly felt like the MI-6 agent's stares were bearing down on her like an iron grip.

"Well... that is unfortunate, Ms. Kirihara." January stated simply.

"What are you talking about?" Misaki asked.

"You see, May here is a very special Doll. She's special because her medium that she send her Surveillance Specter through... is human blood." January said, shocking Misaki as well as the rest of Section 3, though it explained the bandages on her fingers, so she could always use her specter. "It's a Surveillance Specter that can't even be seen by Contractors because it's not in a place they can just look at. With her medium, May can send her specter inside other people's bloodstream and observe their heart, allowing her to know when someone is telling a lie or nervous in the same manner that a polygraph does."

"So you see, Misaki Kirihara, if May says you are lying to us, then we can be sure that you are." March added, her eyes narrowing on Misaki like she was confirming her target.

Then January spoke again. "So I'm going to ask you again, and I do hope you'll reconsider your answer. Did anything August say or do seem unusually odd? Actually, since we know the answer is yes, I'll rephrase: What is it August said or did that you found so peculiar?"

"Wait a second!" Hazuki interrupted. "How could Kirihara be lying if I'm not? Your Doll didn't pick me out, but we both had the same encounter with August 7."

"She's hiding something from you." May's answer came instantly. "She knows something you don't."

With May saying that, all eyes fell on Misaki, who now felt a nervous sweat dripping down her face. She had no route of escape in this matter, the MI-6 agents would never believe that May incorrectly accused someone of lying. "Chief...?" Saito asked with a pained expression, not wanting to believe she was hiding something like this.

Misaki wouldn't be able to get out of telling them about the note, but maybe she could at least avoid letting Hazuki know what it was about. With that in mind, Misaki swallowed to bring down her nerves. "Can we do this in private?" She asked January.

After thinking on it a moment, January agreed. "Very well, let's step outside." He said, and then turned with May to walk out of the building, followed by Misaki, and leaving the rest standing there with March, confused and concerned.

Once outside, January turned to Misaki and asked once more, "Now tell me, what is it August did that you can't even say in front of your own team?"

"After Hazuki and I saw BK-201 and August vanished, I saw a note on the dashboard left by him for me to see. The message gave me instructions not to say anything, so I kept it to myself." Misaki said, and hoped that just leaving out that the note singled out Hazuki would not be enough for May to catch as a lie, just like half-truths could get past a polygraph test. Apparently, it passed, because as Misaki continued, she was not stopped by May. "August told me to remember a certain term that I don't know the meaning of. So if his intent in giving me this message was in fact to pass it on to you, perhaps you will know its significance."

"What term did he tell you to remember?" January asked, intrigued.

Before answering, Misaki took in a deep breathe and looked January square in the eyes, "The term was... 'Happy Ending'." She finally said.

When she did though, January's expression changed slightly and he took his hand off of May's shoulder. He slightly looked like he was in awe of the term, but after a second, changed back to a smirk of pleasure. "I see."

"What? What is it?" Misaki questioned. "What is 'Happy Ending'?"

At this, January chuckled. "It's not 'what', it's 'who'." He said, and then turned back to the police station. "Come, May." He told the Doll, who followed him back inside.

Misaki also went in, and the others all straightened up and looked to them to figure out what the verdict was. "So," March began. "What do we have?"

Stopping in front of everyone, January couldn't help but laugh again. "It appears, March, that our old friend has finally begun moving again."

To this, March was surprised. "Are you serious?"

"'Old friend'?" Goro questioned. "What's going on?"

"It appears that August left us a clue with Misaki here." January told Section 3. "It was something none of you would have known, but August apparently wanted Misaki to keep it a secret."

"Well, what was it? What did it mean?" Hazuki questioned.

"She said August gave her a term to remember. The term was: 'Happy Ending'." January answered, ignoring the fact Misaki said it was meant to be a secret, finding there no reason to hide anything from them.

Of course, January did not know that it was only Hazuki who was not supposed to know. But since he told everyone, Misaki looked at Hazuki to see her reaction. It was extremely subtle, but Misaki noticed Hazuki's eyes flinch at the term. Somewhere or other, Hazuki must have heard that term somewhere before, but kept it hidden because she either keep it a secret for her own purposes or did not realize it was significant until now. Although considering how August did not want her to know of it, Misaki had a hunch it was the former.

"'Happy Ending' is a nickname. A nickname that actually belonged to a former member of ours that fled the MI-6 a long time ago, just before Tokyo Explosion."

"What? Former MI-6?" Goro questioned with surprise.

"Yes, he was a Contractor that I used to work with myself. He went by the codename: December."

At that moment, Misaki froze. December was the person pulling all the strings behind BK-201's coming back to Tokyo, which she had figured out from a riddle he had given her early on. But she hadn't thought that December was entirely freelancing this 'novel' of his once she found out who he was. She had suspected that since he was also using August 7, he was still part of the MI-6, and might be under some strange orders.

But evidently, that was not the case at all. For whatever purpose, for whatever reason, December had long since abandoned the MI-6 and started this story on his own, and somehow managed to draw August 7 into it and have him drop contact with the MI-6. Misaki had always wondered what the purpose behind these events were, but now that MI-6 had come and revealed this information, it was all the more perplexing.

But in that instant Misaki had an even more immediate problem. When she heard that Happy Ending was December, she knew her heart rate must have leaped through the roof from the shock and nerves. And May would definitely notice this change and likely realize it meant that she knew something. Hazuki had reacted to the term Happy Ending in the first place, but as a Contractor she had a much greater handle on her emotions than Misaki did, and might have been able to keep herself in check enough to fool May; but naturally Misaki was not as capable.

However, as Misaki looked down at May by her side and the conversation in front of them continued, May did not make any indication that she was going to expose her. "Why did he abandon MI-6?" Kouno asked. "Surely there must have been a reason?"

"That's a good question," March told Kouno. "Unfortunately, if there was a rational reason, we don't know what it was, or as the case might have been, 'would have become'."

"Huh?" Kouno muttered confused. "What is that supposed mean?"

"December's ability." March replied. "He has a power of precognition."

"You mean he can see the future?" Saito clarified.

"It's more than that." March corrected Saito. "The usual idea of seeing the future entails that one can see into a single future and change it if he believes doing so is a better choice than the future he originally foresaw. But December's ability allows him to take it a step further.

"December's power of precognition allows him to see _all_ the possibilities the future holds. He is capable of learning how the future can be affected by all the different decisions and choices people are capable of making, and then move to influence the future he finds most desirable."

"Wow," Kouno breathed. "That's amazing."

"And it made him extremely valuable to us." March added. "Which is why it was such a surprise when he left. There were no issues as far as we knew, so we came to the conclusion that if there was a reason for it, he must have left because of something that was yet to occur."

"Do you think MI-6 would have disposed of him if he had stayed?" Kouno questioned. Thinking about what he knew of the organization and its management, he felt like that was something that might have occurred.

"That is a possibility, but it is impossible to tell with any certainty." March answered.

"However," January added. "If I myself had to guess, I would sooner say that the reason December had for leaving was not one that could be logical understood." He said, although considering the comment was about a Contractor, it was a bit confusing to the Section 3 members. "December may have been a Contractor, but he was by far one of the most irregular Contractors you would ever encounter."

"But getting back to the issue at hand," March interrupted, "With the information we now have concerning August's disappearance up to now, we can suspect one of two things about his current agenda. A: He discovered that December had resurfaced and cut communication with us in order to gather more information. Or B: December himself contacted August and communication was cut because August is now helping December. In either situation, there is one thing we know for certain with December being involved; things so far have been going exactly as he has wanted them to.

"What do you mean?" Saito asked.

"As I said, December's type of precognition allows him to then use his knowledge of possible futures and influence the one he wants. Regardless of the type of person he is dealing with, by going through all the different futures with his power beforehand, he can discover exactly what to do or say to get anyone to act according to his wishes. And even if he does not directly contact a person, he has various methods of creating situations that force them into making certain moves. And worst of all, even if you know that he is trying to make you move in certain ways, the decision on how to act with that information you end up coming to will certainly still be the exact decision he wanted you to make."

"No way..." Kouno muttered. "So how do we deal with this guy if whatever we decide to do is just helping him?"

"You can't do anything." March said with a bit of a mocking laugh. "You only need to do as we instruct you from now on and leave worrying about December to us."

"What will you do?" Hazuki asked.

To this, January replied. "You don't need to know. In fact, it is probably best that you don't know. Simply do your jobs, listen to us, and we'll take care of the rest. Is that understood?" He told her, an authoritative tone in his last question.

"We understand completely." Goro answered for the group. "You are the experts on this 'December', so we'll trust you judgment and follow your instructions."

Hearing this, January's smile broadened just a bit. "Good, now then, it is quite late. We'll begin an investigation tomorrow. Oh, and so we're clear, with what we understand about the current situation now, December has been acting behind the scenes for the last 6 weeks, maybe longer. This also means it is quite possible that he has been secretly manipulating all of your movements for quite some time. This case is going to be taking full priority, any and all outstanding investigations you may have going on are hereby frozen, and I suggest you all take a serious look over recent events involving your group to see if anything you've done or has happened might have been caused because of December.

"Understanding how you have been manipulated thus far will assist you in making decisions in the future, even though it may be of little consequence in the end." January finished, and then turned along with March and led May with them out of the police station, leaving Section 3 to mull over what to do now, especially the ones who were far deeper in with December than anyone else knew: Misaki and Hazuki.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a house they used as a shelter for the time being, a similar conversation was being held. July had just confessed the identity of the mastermind who was controlling the actions of everyone related to Hei in order to get him back to Tokyo for a reason none of them knew.

Happy Ending, a mysterious man who somehow managed to get what remained the Syndicate organization wrapped around his finger, and somehow knew that Irene would become a Contractor, and hired her as a mercenary just after to attack Hei and his team.

The truth behind this man's identity that was known only to July was just revealed to all of them. July told them that Happy Ending was actually a former agent of his own organization, the MI-6, and went by the codename: December 31. His prior position within the MI-6 made the case that August 7 was working for him more believable than it had been previously, although considering it still required August betray his organization, it was still quite a surprise.

Hei did not know much about August since the only times he had met him, they were fighting. So he supposed that depending on the kind of Contractor August was, he may have been willing to betray the organization despite the risk to himself. What this left the group with was mainly the question of what December's final goal in all this was. While thinking that, Hei asked an additional question.

"July, do you know what December's goal is?"

To this though, July quickly shock his head no. "No, Even if he wanted to tell me what the final goal is, he probably wouldn't be able to."

"What does that mean?" Suou asked.

"December's power allows him to see all the possibilities of the future, which allows him to decide which choices to make to create the best future." July explained. "But December has handicaps as well. Even after seeing the many possibilities the future holds, December is not able to divulge what those possibilities are until the event he saw has past."

"Part of his Obeisance?" Mao questioned.

"No, it's all a part of his power itself. The reason for it is because when December looks into multiple futures for the same event, only one will end up happening; and when the event passes, the other possibilities he had seen become extinct." July said. "Because those possibilities no longer exist, December's 'third eye' can no longer view them."

"So once the possibilities are no longer possibilities, he forgets what they were?" Hei confirmed.

"Exactly," July answered. "And because when December began, his final goal was still only a possibility of the future, he can't tell anyone what it actually is."

"Sounds complicated." Mao muttered. "I've never heard of a Contractor with a power quite as complexly built as this December's."

At this time, Irene spoke up behind everyone. "So what I'm getting is that you've known what's been going on this entire time?" She asked, pointing at July, who nodded his head in response. "And not only did you know Happy Ending in the past, but you knew that he was doing all of this from the start?" She asked another question, sounding frustrated. Again, July nodded. "So let me get just one thing straight... If Happy Ending has been pulling all the strings so that things would go his way; did he set it up so that I would become a Contractor just so he could use me?"

Hearing Irene's question, the others looked at her with a bit of surprise. Becoming a Contractor was not something someone did because they wanted to; and it wasn't a process that would happen just because someone wished for it to happen. However, it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility that there were forces at work around people that, if they met certain condition within those forces, would then turn them into Contractors or Dolls.

Ever since the Gates first appeared, people have been trying to understand what exactly causes the transformation from human to Contractor or human to Doll. It has also been hypothesized that there was someone who intentionally created them, rather than them being a bizarre natural phenomenon, which in many ways was a much more scientific way of viewing the Gates. So if all of that were true, then it was possible that with December's level of foresight, he could see the possibilities of someone's future, and see that through certain circumstances and actions, they would become a Contractor, but if they were to do something even slightly different, they would not. And that meant that it was possible that December had influenced Irene's life with his knowledge of the future in order to make her go through the correct circumstance that turned her into a Contractor.

However, in response to Irene's question, July made the arbitrary response of: "That's impossible." And with that, Irene's frustration at the idea she had been forced into this situation by someone else on purpose vanished. To defend his response, July explained. "December's power has been proven to be capable of predicting when a person would become a Contractor or Doll. However, he also told us that no matter how many possibilities he viewed, he never found one that led to a future where the transformation did not happen."

"Wait," Irene stopped July for a moment. "How could he have told you that? Did you say that he can't tell anyone what the possibilities of the future are because he forgets them all once the event has passed?"

"More accurately, December cannot tell us anything about the possible futures he sees _while they are still possibilities_." July answered. "But there are some events that are literally uncontrollable. For instance, even if December saw that an Earthquake would happen one week from today, there wouldn't be any action he or anyone else could possibly take to stop it from happening. Because there is not keeping it from happening, the earthquake is not a possibility, but a fact. December might be able to take actions that would result in the least amount of damage and casualties from the earthquake, but the Earthquake itself is unavoidable.

"The appearance of Contractors and Dolls are the same way. The transformation itself is just like an earthquake, a natural phenomenon that cannot be stopped. So it wouldn't have mattered what you or December did or didn't do; no matter what, you would have become a Contractor when you did. And because becoming a Contractor is a fact rather than a possibility, there was nothing staying December's tongue from telling us about it."

Hearing all of this, Irene lost her balance a bit, and supported herself on the kitchen counter behind her. It was hard to say if that reaction was one of dismay because there was nothing that could have stopped her leaving her life as a normal human or if it was one of relief because despite it having happened, December had not done so to her intentionally.

"December surely saw that you would become a Contractor at the time you did, but he only used the knowledge that you would to decide that he would use you. If you were not going to become a Contractor, I doubt that December would have used you at all, but since you would, he decided with the possibilities that derived from your transformation to use you as a means of furthering his final goal." July added to the end.

Once Irene stabilized herself, she asked yet another question. "One more thing then." She said, and everyone gave her their attention. "After that first night when I attacked you guys... I got angry at Happy Ending because I recognized that the whole thing had been planned and he was just using me. But when I did, he said that even though that was true he was working towards all of our good. Do you believe that he was telling me the truth when he said that?"

"Yes, I'm certain of it." July said, although his certainty was actually surprising. "It may sound ridiculous, especially for a Contractor, but December treats life like an extended novel, and he's the author. Because of that, he wants to make a future in which all the 'characters' he uses gains something."

"Hence: 'Happy Ending'." Mao realized.

"Exactly." July told him. "So you shouldn't worry about anything, I promise that December has no intention of hurting any of us."

With all this information and July absolute certainty on the subject, Irene gave a loud sigh of relief. "So he really is on our side? He hasn't just been jackassing with us?" Irene asked once more, although it sounded half rhetorical, like she truly did believe July and was just making absolutely sure.

"Yes," July answered her anyways, and even went the extra mile to show her a calming smile for even further reassurance.

Seeing the Doll's smile, which in itself was peculiar to Irene, especially since all she knew of Dolls were the stereotypical stories of them, Irene smiled and relaxed fully. "So... what do we do now?"

"We wait." Mao answered Irene. "Same as always."

"I'll call Oreille in the morning and see if she got anything out of Amara and Harvey." Hei added.

"Alright, although they probably know less about Happy Ending then I do. He only ever contacted them by phone, so they never met him in person like me."

"No," Mao correctly Irene. "What we want from them is information on the Syndicate remnants. Even if December has control of it and is on our side, the organization itself is still a danger."

"I see," Irene replied. "Until tomorrow then." She added, and then walked toward the stairs for sleep.

* * *

And late in the night, after these conversations had taken place, in the warehouse he always conducted business, December sat leaned back in a chair with a pen in his hand. As he sat there, he was glowing with Lancelnopt radiation, meaning he was currently viewing the many possibilities of the future which has yet to occur. Also in the room, August leaned against a wall, having been there since December announced that the Antagonists had arrived.

August was the person who had directly influenced the appearance of one set of those Antagonists by appearing before BK-201 and Misaki Kirihara. The 'fun' he had had that day was done purposefully knowing that MI-6 would be sent here once they discovered that he, who suddenly vanished at December's original summons, was doing something here. The message had been left with Misaki knowing that it would get to those MI-6 agents who came, letting them all know about December's presence.

The MI-6 agents that came would then be very interested in finding December as a member who had abandoned them so long ago and not been heard from since. If August knew the MI-6, and he knew he did, they would likely want December dead, which naturally made them Antagonists to December's story.

As for any other Antagonists that may have come about in December's plotline, August could only guess at using the information he had on hand. But to him, the most important detail now was in fact the MI-6 agents. After a moment, December ended the use of his ability and leaned forward to the table in front of him where a book lie to use for his Obeisance and some paper to write on.

December held the pen in his hand up and clicked out the tip. Once he did that, he brought the pen down to the paper, but stopped before he actually began to write. A second passed and December sighed at something and oddly clicked the pen closed again and set it down on the paper. He then brought a hand up to his head and rubbed his eyes, as if his head hurt or he was extremely weary and couldn't focus.

This attitude was uncharacteristic of December, and so August inquired, "What's wrong, Happy Ending?"

"Writer's Block... or something like it, I guess." December answered without taking his hand away from his eyes.

"Oh," August hummed. "I don't believe I've ever known you to have Writer's Block before." He noted, stepping off of the wall and walking to December's side. "No, wait, there was one time you had it before, wasn't there?"

With a chuckle, December dropped his hand and looked up at August. "Indeed, there was once a time." He said. "However... let me ask you August; has there ever been a time that you felt something was off, but you couldn't tell what it was?"

"I think everybody had felt that way at some point in their life." August said. "But to directly answer your question, yes. But tell me Happy Ending; what do you find strange?"

"I'm not even sure, but something is amiss..."

Hearing these words, August looked to the side and inhaled and exhaled deeply. "December..." He spoke deliberately to gain December's full attention. And it was a surprise, because for the first time all story, August had just called December by his MI-6 code name rather than 'Happy Ending'. As such, December focused on what August was about to say. "I told you in the beginning didn't I? I told you: 'don't over calculate things, or you may have a rogue character finish your book before its time.'

"Well December, I'm going to let you in on the one secret that you don't know. When I said that, it wasn't a warning... it was _foreshadow_."

When August said those unsettling words, something clicked inside December's head. As such, his eyes widened just a bit and he looked at August a little more intently. After a second, he began to laugh at the thought of what that foreshadow must have entailed from the beginning. The thought was mind-boggling for December, because even with that information, what exactly it was that was causing him unrest still eluded him.

But nonetheless, December intended to continue. "Well, then..." December said, and then picked up the book on the table, flipping open to the last page and read the last paragraph. "And so his journey finally came to an end. With his friends all standing alongside him, the young Astor could never think of a time more perfect than this. It was the beginning of a new world, and they had a lot of work to do. But they would not be alone, the rest of the kingdom would rejoice and help rebuild. As Astor looked to his friends, he smiled and said to them 'Let's go.' And so they were off."

December finished reading and set the book down. "Sounds like a good read." August told December, who as per his Obeisance's requirements, had not read a single word of the novel before now, and was forced to bare the spoiler of the very end before he could read from the start.

"Indeed, but back to writing my own August." December said, picking up the pen on the table again and turning toward his friend and comrade. "I have a task for you now..."

Having said that, August smiled and listened to his new mission. A new day was about to dawn, and indeed there was still much to be done.


	20. Truths Come Out

_Chapter 20: Truths Come Out_

Morning had come, and Amara and Harvey were currently within a certain warehouse that was once prepared for them as a safe house by Happy Ending after the original incident where the Black Reaper tracked them down and they got away with the help of Irene Baltar. They figured that if there were any clues as to where they could find Happy Ending, this would be the one place they could find it. The reasoning behind that was because it was the one place they had been that had been set up for them by him. In truth, neither expected to find anything that might tell them who Happy Ending was or where they could find him, but they also came here to hide out for a bit, as they were still carrying around the machine guns they had taken from the CIA agents when they escaped the interrogation room.

Obviously, they could not be seen carrying those things around in public, so they decided to come here to keep out of sight. "So what's the game plan?" Harvey asked Amara while searching one of the beds that was still there in the warehouse from when they had used it.

Meanwhile, Amara was in front of the cabinet that had held food for them and had her hand on the knob ready to open it, but stopped and turned to answer Harvey. "Well if we don't find anything here, which I doubt we will, we'll go find that Baltar woman."

"Baltar?" Harvey questioned, setting the mattress back down on the bed. "You think she'll know where Happy Ending is after what she did?"

"No, but she definitely knows more about him than we do. If nothing else, she can probably give us a better idea of where to look."

"But isn't she with the Black Reaper now? If we find her, that means finding him again. Wouldn't that just put us in another fight?"

"Maybe; but maybe not." Amara said, turning back to the cabinet in front of her and began pulling on the door knobs to search it, although like last time, they were for some reason difficult to pry open.

"What do you mean by that?"

"We just found out that our daughter Carmine turned into a Contractor, became part of the Syndicate organization, and was teamed up with the Black Reaper during the Heaven's War." Amara explained while continuing to pull on the cabinet doors. "You don't think he'd be interested to know who we are too?"

"You think he'd help us after all this?"

"Maybe. We no longer work for Happy Ending, which also means we are no longer part of the Syndicate. And we know the Black Reaper wants to find Happy Ending too. So since we no longer have a reason to kill him, maybe we can work together."

Amara's logic was not flawed either. In the world of Contractors, sides could be changed without much worry. Irene Baltar was already proof of that since she was now operating with the Black Reaper for attacking the two of them. Since they were no longer operating with the Syndicate and had no reason to attack him anymore, at least as long as they had an aligning goal of finding Happy Ending, an agreement could possibly be reached between them.

Finally, Amara got the cabinet doors to open. But when she did and got a look at what was inside, she stopped and stared at it in surprise. Not noticing her change in expression as he was now checking the second bed, Harvey continued their conversation. "I guess it's a possibility." He said. "But what if they agree to help us and we still can't find him? What do we do then?" He asked, trying to think a few steps ahead as he put down the mattress of the second bed. "Amara?" Harvey called over to her when he did not get a response and looked over to her.

"Harvey..." Amara spoke with a serious tone without looking away from the contents of the cabinet. "You said you can memorize anything you ever see at a glance right?"

"Yeah... why?" Harvey asked and raised an eyebrow at Amara's unusually serious tone for the situation.

"When we left this warehouse, what was left in this cabinet?"

Harvey looked up and thought for a moment to recall the image. "Two cans of green beans, a few slices of bread, and a can of soda." He answered. "What's wrong, is it empty? Anyone could have taken it if they came in."

"Sure, anyone could have taken a few food items," Amara answered, although her tone remained serious, indicating there was a different problem. "But who do you know that would go to the trouble of restocking the whole thing?" She asked and stepped to the side, turning to Harvey and pointing back at the now full cabinet of goods.

Seeing it, Harvey was shocked as well. As he said, anyone might have come across this warehouse, opened the cabinet and simply decided to take the food that was in it. But no one would restock something with food in an abandoned warehouse, there was no purpose to it. The only person they could think would have actually done something like this was the only other person that knew the two of them had used this warehouse: Happy Ending himself.

And if that were true, then it meant that he knew that the two of them would come back here, just like he seemed to always know everything else. With that thought, Amara and Harvey became very nervous. They had no idea what Happy Ending planned to do now that they no longer worked for him, even if up until now he seemed to be assisting them, that may have changed since they were no longer on cooperation sides.

It was at that time that a voice spoke up from a wooden support beam that was visible through the destroyed ceiling. "Do you want to see him? Happy Ending I mean."

Completely taken by surprise by the voice, Amara and Harvey got defensive and looked up to see a man lying on the beam while looking down on them with a somehow satisfied grin on his face. The ceiling of the warehouse was very low, so Amara and Harvey could clearly tell who the man was, and were shocked because they had seen him before.

The person speaking to them was the same man that had interrupted their battle with the Black Reaper during the parade a couple days beforehand. He was a man who had introduced himself as a member of the British MI-6: August 7.

"You!?" Amara shouted out at August. "What the hell is someone like you doing here?" She asked angrily.

From his attack at the parade, August's only interest had appeared to have been capturing the Black Reaper, and had only attacked them because they were aiming to kill the same person. And yet now he was approaching them in a place that he shouldn't have even known they would be, making it sound like he was going to help them find Happy Ending, someone he shouldn't even know existed.

"I'm here on behalf of the very person you both are trying to find; Happy Ending." August told them, surprising them both.

"What are you talking about? I thought you were some MI-6 agent; how do you even know about Happy Ending?" Amara questioned, not letting up on her defensive stance, although without anything to use her power on and the machine guns both being on the table in the center of the warehouse, she was basically defenseless.

"I do apologize for all of that." August said with a chuckle, confusing the two Contractors. "How I used to work for the MI-6, that was just a cover story when I attacked you two and BK-201 because I could not let you know my actual mission or employer. In truth, I had been sent there by Happy Ending to interfere with your fight."

"Say WHAT!?" Amara screamed. "You work for Happy Ending?"

"Actually, it would be more accurate to say I work with him, rather than for him." August told Amara. "But that is not the point. The point is that now I am here on behalf of Happy Ending so that you may learn the next steps you are meant to take."

"Next steps? You mean after this he still wants us to work for him?" Harvey questioned.

"The two of you still have something to gain. You did not think your roles truly ended when you learned about your daughter did you?"

When August said that though, Harvey realized something. "Wait a second! You were part of the organization that killed Carmine!" He shouted.

They knew that the specific agent who had performed the deed was the now dead November 11 from Oreille, but that did not necessarily mean that August was clean of her blood. Thinking he might have been involved with the incident, Harvey and Amara stared up at August in hatred.

In response to this, August spoke again. "That I am, but I was not one of the agents there when November killed her. I wish to assure you, I am no longer your enemy." He told them. "So let me ask you again..." August began the question, but then began to glow with Lancelnopt radiation and hid himself behind the ceiling support beam. But once he had, he continued his question, and his voice came from directly behind Amara. "Do you want to see Happy Ending?

With the surprise of August suddenly being behind her, Amara jumped and turned around, only to see August standing there calmly and holding something in his hand for Amara. Amara was shocked to see that the object in his hand was her belt and pouches of makeshift projectiles. "Wha-" Amara stuttered.

"Well?" August asked once more. "Do you?"

Amara thought over the situation for a moment while staring at August. If he was telling the truth about working with Happy Ending, then considering that man's personality and how he worked, then this probably wasn't some elaborate trap. And considering all the things August knew that he shouldn't have known otherwise, it seemed safe to assume he was telling the truth.

Thinking that, Amara quickly snatched he belt out of August's hand and put it around her waist. "Alright, where do we go?" She asked August.

"No, no," August suddenly said, holding up a hand to deny her thought. "It's where do _you_ go, Miss Parker."

"Wait, what?" Harvey questioned. "Why just Amara?"

"Because, Baxter..." August spoke. "I am not working with Happy Ending for free. Just like you two, I am getting some benefits for helping him. Mainly, I'm just getting to have some fun while he works everything else out. So what that means is that for this task I get to have some fun with you."

"Excuse me?" Harvey narrowed his eyes at August behind his shades at what that statement likely meant.

"Your power is one of the few attacks I've ever faced that I was unable to redirect with my power. So if you want Amara to see Happy Ending, you are going to have to fight me here." August explained, looking at Harvey with a satisfied smirk.

"You bastard." Amara said. "I thought you said you weren't our enemy!"

"I'm not. I do not intend to kill your partner, I am merely requesting a duel." August told Amara. "And if you want the information, you'll have to agree."

Amara continued to glare at August for a moment, but then spoke back to Harvey without turning her head. "Harvey, what do you think?" She asked him, as it was him who would have to fight.

Harvey gave it some thought, but finally came to the conclusion he knew Happy Ending probably desired. "Fine, I'll fight you." He agreed, though unhappily.

With that, August laughed softly. "Very good then." He said, and then held out his hand and with a flick of his wrist brought out a folded up piece of paper and handed it to Amara. "These are instructions on how to reach Happy Ending. Best of luck." He told her.

Taking the instructions, Amara slowly walked out of the warehouse without taking her eyes off of August until she was gone, and then she looked at the instructions and began running to reach Happy Ending as quickly as she could.

And with Amara having left, August and Harvey were left inside the warehouse alone. "To create the illusion of a card flying around in mid-air, you use an invisible string attached to your ear, stuck to the card using wax, and the other end of the string on your finger. With that, you can control the direction of the card with your head and hand while it looks to be flying in impossible manners."

"Excuse me?" Harvey questioned August's explanation, although he recalled he did the same thing when he first approached them during the parade.

"It's my Obeisance. Troublesome as it is for a Magician, I must reveal the secret to a magic trick." August explained. "Now then, shall we begin?" August asked, and then by using his ability and with a wave of his arm, a sword came out of his sleeve into his right hand, and he charged forward.

* * *

Misaki Kirihara was driving a police car while following another one driven by Goro Kobayashi. In the car with Misaki were the three MI-6 agents, with March in the passenger seat next to her and January and May sitting in the back. Right now, Section 3 was leading the MI-6 agents to a place they believed they might have been influenced by December. The thought was brought up by Goro, who recalled the incident where he and Misaki found Mina Hazuki. At that time, they discovered a package tied to the door that held a letter detailing a way they could catch Hazuki, who had actually been watching them from around the corner of the building. Considering the specific directions of the letter and the knowledge of December's power, it seemed all too likely he had been the one behind it.

What no one else knew though was that Misaki had been aware of that idea since the start. They were also unaware of Hazuki's brief affiliation with him, although she had only known him by the name 'Happy Ending' until now.

The revelation that Happy Ending's true identity was that of December came as quite a shock to Hazuki, but she had made sure not to let it show. But at least now she knew how he had known so much about how she would act in accordance to his wishes when they had never met before. But more importantly, knowing December's power now, Hazuki became convinced that his talk of the one who ordered Genma to kill Youko appearing was truth, and she would be able to take her revenge.

On the group's way to the place the letter was left, Misaki came to a stop at a light that was right next to a closed off area that had a large crater being examined by official looking personnel. Seeing this scene, January looked intrigued.

"Now what happened here?" He asked Misaki.

Looking over to the crater, Misaki explained. "Early yesterday morning, something fell from the sky and landed here. I'm sure you understand how unusual it is for something like that to happen nowadays, so PANDORA is examining the site just in case."

"I see, and what was it, might I ask, that crashed?" January questioned further.

"Well... that's the real reason the site is being investigated." Misaki said, looking over at the site again, staring at the crater for a moment. "When it was looked at, there was nothing in that crater. It's just a hole in the ground."

"Light's green." March informed Misaki who wasn't looking ahead, and she resumed driving.

"So whatever fell from the sky; it's no longer where it landed?" January asked curiously.

"Strange as it sounds, that appears to be the case. And that's why PANDORA wants to research it, they believe it holds some kind of mystery connection to the Gate."

"Interesting." January muttered, continuing to look back at the crater until it was out of view.

March glanced back at January, noting his curiosity for the empty crater and smiled softly for some reason, but looked forward again without saying anything about it.

* * *

After leaving to call Oreille, Hei returned to the house where everyone else was waiting. When he entered, Irene asked, "So did the Contractors spill about the Syndicate?"

But Hei looked at everyone with a worried expression as he answered."We may have a problem." He said. "Amara and Harvey Baxter escaped from the CIA yesterday. We didn't get anything out of them, and their current location is unknown."

Saying this, the rest of the group was surprised, especially Irene. "Damn it." She growled.

"So after all that, we still have to worry about those two?" Mao questioned, personally having had quite enough of Amara and Harvey.

"So what do we do now? Are we going after them again?" Suou inquired as to their agenda.

"Yes, Oreille still wants them caught to try and bring down the Syndicate. So once again tonight she's having us going after them."

"Well, at least with Irene helping us now we have better odds." Suou noted.

"Don't worry, Li; we'll get them." Irene added.

Hei nodded, "Be ready for tonight." He told them, and then went upstairs on his own.

But something about the way Hei spoke about this task bothered Mao. The others did not seem to notice since it was so subtle, but Mao knew Hei too well to miss the difference. When Hei spoke of the tasks handed to him, he would refer to the task as what they needed to do.

But in this one instance, Hei did not refer to their mission as such. Usually he would refer to it as something 'they needed to do'; but instead, he referred to capturing Amara and Harvey as something 'Oreille wanted them to do'.

It was the most subtle change in Hei's speech there could have been, so Suou, July and Irene hadn't noticed the difference; and though Yin may have known Hei just as well as well as he, she did not seem to notice either. But Mao, who had worked alongside Hei for years, was able to catch it.

And because it was so subtle, Mao felt that whatever was bothering him was actually severe, and he was attempting to make himself seem as usual as to not arouse the suspicions of the others. Thinking that way, Mao stood up and walked up the stairs after Hei while Suou and Irene remained downstairs with July and Yin and began fixing something to eat.

Once up the stairs Mao turned into the room on the left and saw Hei pacing back and forth inside. As he suspected, whatever was bothering him was big, and so Mao spoke up. "Hei, what's the matter?"

When Mao spoke up, Hei stopped pacing and looked at him. With a sigh, Hei leaned back against the wall and lowered himself to sit on the floor. "Oreille just told me... Amara and Harvey were the parents of Havoc."

It took a second before that name clicked in Mao's head, as his association with the girl had been brief, but Mao remembered well who Havoc was. Mao had to restrain himself to keep his voice from getting to loud and alerting those downstairs, but he responded to confirm. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Hei answered. "Oreille had been digging into Amara and Harvey's past since she first found out about them and came to us. She found out that their adoptive daughter who was supposed to have died was actually Havoc, who had turned into a Contractor and had her death faked."

"So why is Oreille telling you this now?" Mao questioned.

"She told Amara and Harvey about it all as well." Hei answered. "Apparently she was trying to use the information as an incentive for their cooperation in taking down the Syndicate. She told everything from Havoc becoming a Contractor and being taken by the Syndicate up to when she was killed by November. But once she had, Amara had said that it was 'all she needed to know' and used fake nails she was wearing as projectiles to get an opening and escape."

"Wow..." Mao muttered to himself. He couldn't even begin to fathom what the chances of this encounter between Hei and Havoc's parents happening would have been if everything happening hadn't been set up specifically by December. "So, what are you going to do about them now that you know?" He asked Hei.

Hei thought on the situation for a bit. The situation he found himself in right now was highly unique. Not only did he have to consider his own personal feelings toward Havoc, but he was thinking about what Amara and Harvey's plans were now that they knew, as well as what Amara's comment 'all she needed to know' meant. From the way it was phrased, it sounded almost as if she had been the one to set the meeting with Oreille because she knew she would be given the information.

And finally, Hei now had to keep in mind that everything that had happened up to this point between Hei and these two had been purposefully planned by December. December knew who Amara and Harvey were from the beginning and used them specifically for that connection to Hei. Because that was true, it meant Hei's next meeting with Amara and Harvey would be critically important to how things would play out from then on.

But because how to deal with this situation was dependant on both how Hei reacted and how Amara and Harvey reacted to the news, it was impossible to be sure what the best course of action in regards to this was. Finally, Hei said, "I don't know. Once we find them, I'll decide how to proceed based on their actions."

To this, Mao nodded. "Alright, we'll just wait for tonight then."

* * *

In the warehouse once used as a safe house, Harvey and August faced off in a non-lethal dual. Though both of their fighting tactics could be used to kill, neither one would be attempting to do so. Nonetheless, they would be trying their hardest to defeat the other. This fight was just so August could have fun fighting an enemy who used an attack he could not redirect: the Concussion Blasts.

A fairly common power as far as Contractor abilities went, it still seemed as though August had never gotten the chance to fight one of those Contractors before he fought Harvey, because it was only then that he had discovered this weakness.

And yet even with that weakness completely exposed for Harvey to exploit to its fullest, August charged in at him without hesitation in a direct attack. August swung the sword in his hand at Harvey once he got up close, but when he did Harvey fired a Concussion Blast at August's face from close-range.

After all, the power was called a 'Concussion Blast' for a reason. The force made by it was powerful enough that it could easily give someone a concussion if one struck their head. That also meant that it would also be enough to knock them out with two, or maybe even kill them with three by causing blood forced trauma or simply crushing the skull and brain.

August knew the power of the Concussion Blast from hearing about other Contractors that used it and felt one during his original fight the other day. So when Harvey used that power like that, He put attacking on hold and focused on protecting his head.

August brought his other arm up in front of his face and let it take Harvey's Concussion Blast to save his head. The force of the blast knocked August backward onto his back, but having been prepared, August instantly rolled back with the force and back onto his feet. Despite having been the first one to be hit in this battle, August was smiling like he was truly enjoying the pain, and then once more made a dash, but this time it was to the side instead of directly at Harvey.

"Why are you doing this?" Harvey asked August while preparing another Concussion Blast made obvious by the Lancelnopt radiation that lit up his body as he did.

"What do you mean?" August asked as he too lit up with Lancelnopt radiation despite the fact it would not help protect him from the blast. "I've already stated my reason." He reminded Harvey, and at the same time stopped running behind the table in the middle of the warehouse with a pair of machine guns on it.

For a moment Harvey thought August was going to grab and use the machine guns, and so hastily fired his Concussion Blast. However, instead August grabbed the end of the table itself and flipped it to its side to conceal him from view. Harvey's Concussion Blast struck the wooden table and snapped it in two like a twig. The Concussion Blasts had enough force to blast apart a steel door, so a wooden table definitely wasn't going to make adequate cover.

However, when the table split, Harvey was shocked to find that August was no longer behind it. "I'm just getting to enjoy myself while Happy Ending works out the details." August spoke up from behind Harvey while about to attack.

Harvey jerked around to look on instinct to see the backend of August's blade heading for the side of his head. Immediately Harvey ducked just under it and then pounced forward to put distance between him and his opponent. "That's not what I mean." Harvey argued August's reply and fired two consecutive Concussion Blasts at August. "There's no way that's your only reason. There's got to be something more your after through all this."

In response to Harvey's blasts, August sidestepped one and then blocked the other with his sword, which shattered on impact, but kept the blast from reaching August himself. Quickly, August pulled used his power and pulled out another sword, this time in his left hand and held it to his side while slowly approaching Harvey. "What do you mean?" He questioned Harvey's logic. "A life without entertainment is a life that isn't worth living. So is it not natural for someone to seek entertainment in places it can be found? And if that entertainment can be enjoyed even more though helping an old friend, why not?"

Harvey held up his hand in threat and August stopped walking toward him. "Old friend? You know Happy Ending that well?" He inquired.

"Yes," August answered. "I suppose there's no point in hiding his identity from you any longer, so I'll tell you outright; Happy Ending is also a former member of MI-6 like myself. His codename then was 'December'."

"Seriously?"

"Indeed, but once again, you can rest assured that December was not involved in your daughter's case." August noted just in case the thought past Harvey's mind.

At that time, August reached up for his top hat nonchalantly and placed his hand at the top. When he did, he then shown with Lancelnopt radiation and his hand sank into his hat up to the wrist, from where August pulled up and the hate came with it like it was now his hand. August pointed the top hat at Harvey, and sticking out of it Harvey saw the barrel of a shotgun pointed at him.

Reacting as quickly as possible, Harvey shot a Concussion Blast and just knocked the shotgun and hat out of August's hand before he had had a chance to fire it. However, he soon realized that was part of August's plan because his arm did not get struck as far back from the blast recoil as he would have expected and lurched forward, which meant that he had not been gripping the shotgun in the hat very strong so it would fly out of his hand easily.

August stabbed his sword straight at Harvey, and Harvey moved fast and barrel rolled to the right, but the blade of August's blade nipped at his cheek and cut into his face. Harvey got to his feet again and began running in a circle around August while he slipped his sunglasses off his eyes for a second to look at the lights for Obeisance. "So what, helping Happy Ending is just a favor for an old friend?" He continued questioning August's motivation and fired one more Concussion Blast while continuing to run in a circle around him.

August easily ducked below Harvey's attack and then twisted his body to throw his sword at Harvey from where he stood. The sword pierced the ground in front of Harvey, which caused him to stop running, where the two then stared each other down for a moment. "Not quite, I am helping December because I am interested in how his story plays out. Even my helping him itself is a source of amusement I gain from helping him. So when he called me to ask for my assistance, I decided to drop my contact with the MI-6 just so I could be a part of it."

"Are you for real?" Harvey asked, astonished. "Even for an irregular Contractor, leaving your organization on a whim like that is insane."

"Maybe to you it seems that way," August rebuttaled once more. "But I am different from most Contractors. My power has freed me from the restraints of thinking I need to rely on logic to save my own life."

"What does that mean?"

"My power makes me immune to most any kind of weapon mankind has, as well as a large number of Contractor powers." August began to explain as he used his power and with a flick of his wrists pulled out eight knives between his fingers and threw them all at Harvey, although he quickly got to the side and then fired another Concussion Blast back at August, this time aimed for his feet. "So while many Contractors would submit to the fear of being killed if they did not cooperate with an organization that wanted their abilities, I have not had to worry about such thoughts, since there is almost no method they could use to kill me if they wanted to." He finished as he jumped over Harvey's blast and then ran toward him while pulling out another shotgun. "Because I've never had to worry about if my organization wants to kill me, I was free from the usual Contractor logic to make these kinds of decisions based on something as simple as how amusing I believed it would be."

August held the shotgun now in his hand by its barrel to use as a blunt weapon. This tactic along with August's explanation of why he was able to decide to help Happy Ending strictly as an entertainment source surprised Harvey enough that he did not react until the last moment. Harvey shot a quick blast at August's shot gun as he was about to bring it down on his head like a hammer, and it caused the gun to break to pieces. With August having had a strong grip on his gun this time, the force of the blast caused August to be pushed back and off balance this time, which allowed Harvey to get in a second strike straight at August's chest, which threw him back several meters.

"So you really are in this just to have fun?" Harvey confirmed what August was telling him one last time since was just that hard to believe.

Pulling himself up from the ground after being thrown back, August continued to grin as he laughed a bit and completed his own Obeisance. "The illusion of putting a coin into an unopened can is one achieved easily by only showing the audience what they need to see. With just a little sleight of hand and keeping the coin out of view, it seems as though you managed to get the coin into an unopened can when in fact the coin did not get inside until you opened the top and slipped it in to pour it out.

"To answer your question, yes. Because I have managed to escape the need of logical protection, I have reached a point where I could abandon the MI-6 to assist December on a simple whim so that I could enjoy myself."

"Looks like you're holding the short end of the stick in this deal." Harvey noted.

"Well that all depends on how you hold it I suppose. Objects or ideas do not always hold the same amount of value to different people. Just as one man's trash is another man's treasure, what you see as getting the short end of the stick, I see as being given a whole one out of the many December has given out in this story of his." August told Harvey. "But enough of talk, if we don't seriously focus on the battle, Miss Parker will get back far too soon for what I had hoped to get out of this."

With that said, August and Harvey ceased speaking to one another and began to focus solely and entirely on fighting, that way August could get the highest level of enjoyment out of it.

* * *

Amara followed the directions given to her by August and finally arrived at a different warehouse a few miles away from the one she had just been. She stood there in front of the door and stared at it, preparing herself for her first face-to-face meeting with Happy Ending. After everything that had happened because of this person, Amara was not happy to about the meeting. Happy Ending had pissed Amara off too many times for her to let it slide regardless of the fact it was all working up to learning about her daughter.

With her cold-stone expression, Amara turned the knob and then threw the door open, which casued a loud noise when the door struck the wall that echoed throughout the warehouse. Entering, she found that there was only one person in the space. "So, you're Happy Ending?" Amara asked the man, making sure it was really him and not just some new person to act as a middle-man.

"Yes, I am." The silver haired man in a trench coat answered. "It's good to finally meet you face-to-face, Miss Parker."

"No actually, it's not." Amara noted, letting Happy Ending know her discomfort plainly if he didn't already catch it from her expression.

In response to this comment, Happy Ending laughed a bit. "You are quite right. I owe you many apologies for what I've put you through to get here."

"I don't care." Amara said. "Let's just skip your mindless chatter and get on to the why I'm here."

"Fair enough." Happy Ending agreed. "Please close the door and come have a seat." He told Amara motioning to a chair in front of him.

Amara walked over and sat in the chair with her arms folded across her chest to continually display her displeasure with the situation to Happy Ending. "So, I'm told our role hasn't ended yet?"

"That is correct, I still have need for your's and Mister Baxter's assistance." Happy Ending replied.

"Before we go any further into this, I have some questions for you, Happy Ending."

"By all means."

"You told me you are a Contractor. Before I listen to anything else you say, I want to know what your power is." She told Happy Ending.

To answer her question, December held up a finger and explained. "I possess the ability to see all the possibilities of the future."

"Precognition, so I was right after all." Amara noted unsurprised, having been thinking of what kind of powers would have allowed Happy Ending his apparent omniscience in how events would unfold since she found out, and seeing the future had been the only thing that seemed to make sense. But then something struck Amara. "Wait, what do you mean, 'the possibilities'?"

"The Future is not set in stone, Miss Parker," Happy Ending answered. "There are many paths it might take, and I have the ability to see them all."

"Good grief; it's even worse than I thought." Amara grumbled to herself, but she continued regardless. "Next question then, and on this one I better be satisfied with your answer. You've never really been after the Black Reaper, have you?" She asked, squinting at Happy Ending.

It was an important question to Amara because the answer would define what she had been spending her entire time doing up till now. It was a difference between being taken for a complete fool or truly doing something that was worth the effort. There was a specific answer Amara wanted to hear from Happy Ending, and she had a feeling she was going to get it.

"On the contrary, Amara." Happy Ending began his answer. "I am most certainly after BK-201; I just do not mean to kill him. There was practical purposes behind you various fights with BK-201 and his comrades. The first of course was to allow you to meet in preparation for learning of your connection through your daughter." He said, although Amara cringed slightly at the mention of Carmine, furious with Happy Ending for using her through such a means, but didn't say anything because this was actually the answer she wanted to hear. "And then they were also to strengthen his skills as well as your own for the future conflicts - for the true conflicts - that will be upon us soon."

"What are these conflicts?" Amara asked.

Happy Ending's answer had satisfied Amara. What she had wanted to hear from him was that even though they were never doing what they had been told they were supposed to be, there was a practical purpose behind their exchanges with the Black Reaper that couldn't have been achieved through different methods.

Now, Happy Ending continued to refer to Amara's new question. "I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"And why not?"

"My powers have their limits. I cannot speak of possibilities while they are still only possibilities. Until the conflicts are truly upon on, I can only hint at what they might be."

"The future conflicts are still only possibilities? Do you mean that there is a way to avoid the conflict altogether?" Amara asked, with surprise finally coming into her voice.

"Technically, yes; but it will only be delaying the inevitable. These conflicts are conflicts that need to happen. I gave them a push to come at us, and now they don't intend to stop."

"Why?" Amara questioned. "Why is it so important that these conflicts take place?"

"If these conflicts don't take place, then this world would remain in constant danger." Happy Ending answered, now getting Amara's complete focus. "The enemy coming is one who holds that kind of power. If this enemy is not stopped, then it would be as if a storm cloud were looming over us at all times, we just can't tell when the storm might start.

"That is why I have asked you here now. To continue on against this enemy, I wish to request that you and Harvey work for me once again."

Amara had become a bit overwhelmed with that speech of this conflict involving the fate of the world, but brought herself back to ask yet another question. "So am I to understand that this means you will no longer be sending us after the Black Reaper?"

"That is correct. BK-201 is no longer your target." Happy Ending replied.

Hearing that, Amara actually felt relieved. After hearing the story of what the Black Reaper had done for Carmine, she didn't want to think of him as an enemy any longer.

"So then, do I have your cooperation, Miss Parker?" Happy Ending asked the final question.

Amara thought on the situation once more. She may have owed her new knowledge of her daughter to Happy Ending, but after hearing the whole idea of the future conflicts involving the fate of the world, she knew she had never signed up for something like that.

But if she thought more about what Happy Ending had told her, she realized that maybe it was necessary for her to aid in this fight. Happy Ending certainly seemed to think so. And according to him, this conflict was the same as a storm cloud that loomed over the earth without a way to know when it would strike. In other words, it was a constant threat that - until it was dealt with - would not go away.

This enemy had to be dealt with if any of them wanted to survive, including herself. And if Amara could aid in that effect, then even as a logical Contractor, she should have a reason to help.

Looking back at Happy Ending, Amara gave her answer. "Alright, we'll help you."

Smiling with this answer, Happy Ending thanked Amara. "Thank you."

"Now then, can I go tell that August guy to stop having his fun?" Amara asked Happy Ending, pointing back at the door of the warehouse to indicate the wish to leave.

"By all means." He answered.

"Good," Amara said, and then stood up and began to hurry out of the current warehouse to go back to Harvey and get him out of August's 'fun time'.

But just when Amara's hand touched the doorknob, Happy Ending spoke up once more. "Miss Parker, before you leave... could I ask one more small favor from you?"

Turning her head half back to Happy Ending, Amara questioned, "What is it?"

"Would you mind to terribly... walking back?" Happy Ending asked her.

Hearing that request, Amara didn't respond. She knew she didn't have to because December must have already known what she would do with his power. So she just opened up the door, stepped out, and began walking back to Harvey and August.

* * *

Section 3 and MI-6 finally arrived at the place they thought they may have been influenced by December. Pulling up to a stop in front of the building, Goro, Saito, Kouno, and Hazuki got out of the first car and Misaki, March, and May got out of the second vehicle. Walking up to the building's entrance, Goro explained to the MI-6 agents what had happened here.

"The letter was left in a package that was hung on a doorknob here. It was addressed to Kirihara and I by name, and it told us how to capture Hazuki."

"That's how you knew I was here?" Hazuki questioned. "I had thought you just noticed that I was watching you."

"Actually, we never brought it up when we interrogated you, but what were you doing following us then anyways?" Goro questioned, the thought somehow only dawning on him now.

"Oh, that?" Hazuki asked, keeping herself steady in the presence of the MI-6 Doll May who could operate as a lie detector as she chose her words carefully.

At that time she had been following Goro and Misaki around because Happy Ending - December - had told her to. He had said that it was a necessary step, which meant that it was also necessary for her revenge. But she couldn't let the others know that she had been dealing with December for that end, even without knowing who he was, it would reveal what her true intentions were.

So Hazuki answered Goro with, "It had to do with finding the person who ordered Genma to kill Youko. After you began searching for me from my prints on the stakes in front of the station, I tailed you thinking it might lead me to some kind of clue I couldn't have found on my own."

"Excuse me," March spoke up in response to Hazuki's answer and took a step forward, placing a hand on May's shoulder. "But couldn't you have just asked Section 3 for their help in this manner? Why did you have to go through it in such a roundabout way?"

Facing March, Hazuki answered. "This situation required a certain level of delicacy. Section 3 did not have the jurisdiction to directly investigate this case, but once they began searching for me, I thought maybe one thing would simply lead to another."

May did not find problem with Hazuki's answer, but since she searched for lies through the same methods as a lie detector, it wouldn't even be too surprising for a Contractor who could lie without emotion to not get caught even in a boldfaced lie, much less a half-truth. Hazuki was sure March knew the same thing and didn't think of May's lie detection skill as 100% accurate.

With the methods used, March could be certain someone was lying if May said so, but she could not be certain they weren't lying just because May did not say so. But even so, March did not pry further into the subject.

"I see, I guess that makes sense." March said, and then turned to Goro. "So, what did you do with this letter after finding Miss Hazuki here?"

"The letter had instructions to dispose of it immediately afterwards, so I burned it." Goro answered. "I can't say I'm happy about it, but since the letter had given exactly what it delivered, I followed it."

After telling March this, Goro opened the door and showed her a black burn mark on the metal floor with the charred remains of paper that was the letter and package. Looking at it, March hummed in thought. "That certainly sounds like December's manipulation. But then why was this necessary though?" She questioned out loud. "Everything December does has a purpose, you can take that to the bank. So why did December decide to force you back into Section 3 like this?"

"To answer that question, we'd probably need to know who else and what else he's been manipulating besides us." Goro suggested a possible explanation.

"I suppose you're right." March agreed. " Maybe this event secretly moved another person through an invisible domino effect to cause them to do something else he needed. Or maybe he did it to keep Hazuki or you Section 3 from doing something that would have had a negative effect later on.

"May we take a look inside the facility?" March asked Section 3.

"Eh, why?" Kouno questioned her reason.

"I'd like to look at what remains of the scene of this Genma Shizume's death bed. You two had come here because it was your only lead to Hazuki, correct?" March asked, looking to Goro and Misaki.

"Yes," Goro answered.

"Well then, I just want to make sure that there is nothing inside that holds December's 'scent', and maybe was what he was trying to keep you from seeing with his letter."

"You really think something like that would be here?" Misaki questioned.

"December has been missing since the Tokyo Explosion. The number of things he might have manipulated behind the scenes in preparation for these current events are completely unknown. I don't truly think I'll find anything, but better safe than sorry."

"Alright then, we'll show you the way." Goro said, and then began leading May and March into the building along with the rest of Section 3.

* * *

Continuing to battle, August held another sword pulled from his body and stabbed repeatedly at Harvey in close range. Because Harvey was having to focus on dodging the blade, he couldn't get an opportunity to strike back with his power, and any other means of attack Harey could try would be easily redirected with August's ability. Before Harvey could attack, he needed to put some distance between him and August.

August was aiming his jabs at Harvey's head, but Harvey realized he probably wasn't actually trying to kill him. All August wanted to do in this fight was prove superiority. He had said he was able to betray the MI-6 on a whim because with his power he had escaped the logical understanding that as a Contractor he needed to obey his organization just to stay alive. Since August could redirect all kinds of physical attack methods like blades and bullets, there was no way to stop August even if he just walked straight out of the building. But for whatever reason, that did not work against Harvey's power.

Harvey's power could hit August even if he tried to redirect it with his power. Harvey wasn't sure why, but he could hit August. And so when the man who did not even have to fear that his own organization would kill him if he left found something that could be used to subdue him, it gave his unused survival instinct a jumpstart. Now that August was faced with something he could not simply avoid, he felt a need to overcome it. He felt that he had to prove that even if Harvey could strike him, he couldn't beat him.

August had to know that he was still stronger than Harvey. He had to know that he could defeat Harvey and survive. If August proved that to himself, than he would know that he still had no need to fear being killed in order to carry on in the same manner he had ever since becoming a Contractor. August fought Harvey to prove he was superior and therefore had no reason to fear death.

At the very least, that was what Harvey felt. August had said he was doing this purely for amusement, which implied that it didn't matter if he won or lost so long as the two of them fought. However, Harvey felt that his primal instinct to survive was also mixed in there, even if he didn't realize or admit it himself, Harvey believed it was there.

Getting back to the battle, Harvey's body began to glow with the Lancelnopt radiation in an attempt to simply scare August away with the threat of his power. It worked and August jumped back to avoid the attack that didn't actually come until afterward. Once August jumped away, Harvey pointed his hand forward and shot a Concussion Blast at August's head.

August ducked to the side and then ran back at Harvey. "Well that was a dirty trick." He told Harvey for his fake-out.

August swung his sword at Harvey from the side and Harvey used another blast to to break it. However, this time August saw it coming and activated his ability. Using his power, August had the sword in his hand fall back inside his body so that Harvey's blast would miss. At the same time August continued moving his arm and closed his hand into a fist. Ending the use of his power there, his fist connected with Harvey's face and made him stumble.

"So how about one in return?" August added onto his previous statement and then used his ability to pull his sword back out into his left hand and stabbed down at Harvey's shoulder.

Reacting quickly, Harvey took a single step back to put him just out of the sword's range. And then, without thinking, Harvey threw a straight punch for August's chest. With his ability, August took Harvey's punch and absorbed it. "Shit!" Harvey cursed himself for his stupid move as he fell forward and through August due to having lost balance when his fist didn't stop where he expected it to.

Harvey screwed up. That was all there was to it. This wasn't part of a plan or scheme to get August's guard down as he fell to his back side; he didn't have his power prepared to launch an assault while his hand was on the inside of August's body. He hadn't thrown that normal punch that he had known would not affect August for any high reason than throwing his fist at an enemy that was in close-quarters.

Harvey had screwed up. And August could tell that was all it was. If August were to think for even a brief second that Harvey's punch was a trick for another attack, he would have jumped away even though his fist couldn't have hurt him. But because he could tell that Harvey had simply screwed up, August did not get out of the way and let Harvey fall through behind him.

With a grin at the handed over advantage, August twisted his body around and ended the use of his power once Harvey had fallen completely through him and used his right hand to grab the back of Harvey's shirt collar and then yank him back around while he was still off balance and threw him into the nearby wall.

With that, August used his power and pulled out a rifle from his coat and pointed it point blank at Harvey's face. Harvey froze and August held the rifle there like that for a moment. "To perform the illusion of two rings linking together, all that is needed is for one of the rings to have a small opening that cannot be seen at a distance. With that, you can slip it onto the second ring while, to the audience, they appear to have linked together just by being knocked against one another."August revealed another magic tricks secret for Obeisance. "It looks like... I've won." He added to Harvey.

But then, even though August had said everything about this only being a duel and having no intention to kill Harvey, he began to pull back on the rifle's trigger with his finger. Harvey's eyes widened when he saw that but knew he couldn't escape the shot from point blank like that. August pulled the trigger and...

A small click sounded. The rifle didn't have any bullets in it, so Harvey's head was not blown apart. The second that fact registered in Harvey's head, he jumped to the side and threw himself to the ground. "What the hell did you do that for? You said it yourself that you won."

"I said that it looked like I had won. But in battle, there is no way to be sure that you have won until your enemy is dead. But by pulling the trigger and seeing your reaction that meant you had no way to escape it, I can be sure that I won." August explained with a carefree smile as he wave the rifle around in one hand and a sword in the other. "I had to be certain you had no way to come back, after all."

Hearing the way August was putting it, Harvey sighed and muttered out loud, "So you really were trying to prove your superiority to me."

"Hm?" August questioned, hearing what Harvey said. "What do you mean? Like I said at the beginning, I'm just trying to amuse myself."

Harvey sighed again and stood up without responding. But it seemed he was right about August after all. August probably didn't realize it himself, and he probably was doing it largely for the prospect of amusement; but it was obvious to Harvey that there was an underlining desire to prove his superiority and prove he had nothing to fear that had pushed him to desire this match.

It was the same reason why when Harvey had struck August with his blast that day during the parade, August had responded crudely by pulling out a machine gun. Likely, that machine gun had been fully loaded and August would have pulled the trigger on Harvey and Amara. If it hadn't been for him having heard police sirens, which now that Harvey knew about his working with Happy Ending, must have meant that he had been told to leave at that point, August probably would have shot him then in a more suddenly induced survival instinct.

But now that August had proven to himself that he was the superior fighter, he had no reason to fear death anymore, and his survival instinct could be turned off. And with their fight over, all that was left was for Amara to return from meeting with Happy Ending.

And it was just as Harvey thought that that the door to the warehouse opened and Amara walked. "Alright, everything's taken care of now. You two can stop." She told them, but then noticed that they were already finished. "Oh, so having me walk back was so they could decide a victor." She said to herself, and could tell from the scene that Harvey had lost.

"So," Harvey asked. "What's happening now?"

"We're working for Happy Ending again. Only this time there's someone different we're going to be fighting; we won't be up against the Black Reaper anymore."

"Who's the target this time then?"

"Don't know yet, Happy Ending can't tell us." She noted. "So does that mean you don't know who we're up against either?" She asked August casualy, as he was now their ally.

"That's correct, although I might be closer to figuring out than you because of my role in certain past events." August answered.

"What past events?" Harvey questioned.

Asked that, August gave a short chuckle. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you about it; if you're both in the mood for a bit of a long story that is." He told them, looking back and forth between them, waiting for a response.

"At this point, any information is good information." Amara said. "Tell us."

"Very well then," August replied. "Now let's see, I guess it all started when April was placed undercover in Russia..."

As August began to tell his story, Amara and Harvey listened carefully to everything so that they could educate themselves with as many of the facts involving what they were now a part of as possible.

* * *

Having been led to the scene of Genma Shizume's death by Section 3, MI-6 agents May and March began to examine everything they could to see if there was even a hint that December had in some unseen way impacted the event. March thoroughly inspected the area to make sure she didn't overlook anything, but it didn't seem like she was finding anything worth noting.

Just when March sighed, stood up, and looked like she was about to give up on it, she and the rest heard footsteps approaching from down the hall in the direction of the entrance. As this was a restricted area, no one should have been there, so those of Section 3 responded swiftly and pulled their handguns. However, March and May did not seem worried about it and simply looked down the dimly lit hallway as they saw a figure approaching.

"Who's there?" Misaki called out to the figure.

"You can relax Miss Kirihara." The figure responded with a familiar voice, surprising Misaki and the rest. The figure came closer and allowed them all to see that the approaching figure was January. "It's only me, though I do apologize for being late like this."

"January?" Misaki responded with exasperation. "What were you doing anyways?" She asked as she and the rest lowered their weapons.

"You could say I was following a hunch." January told Misaki. "But it didn't turn out anything, so I came over to see if ya'll had found anything on your end."

"No, it doesn't seem December had anything to do with this event." March told January. "Or if he did, he cleaned up the trail long ago."

"That's too bad." January said. "Well then, I suppose we should go over anything else that might have happened since August's disappearance to see if December has cause your group to perform certain actions up to now then. Just because nothing may have seemed wrong at the time doesn't mean he didn't cause it. So we'll have you tell us about everything you've done since the day August vanished to be sure."

Having said all that, January turned back around and headed for the entrance, followed by March and May, and then by those from Section 3 to head back to the police station.

* * *

And so, night finally came again. Hei and his group prepared to search out Amara and Harvey who had escaped from the CIA. With the knowledge of Hei's connection to these two through their daughter Havoc, Hei wasn't sure how this was going to play out at all, but he would end up finding out one way or the other, and once he saw how those two felt about the situation, then he would decide how to act.

"Alright, let's get on with this." Hei told the group, and turned to th door to begin their search.


End file.
